What Goes Up
by faewolf
Summary: An encounter in the library starts as an argument between rivals and ends up to be much more. Hermione/OFC, slightly AU in sixth year at Hogwarts; sort of dabbling around with Jade's character so you all get to read my one shots and experiments with her personality! LUCKY YOU! anyways this is a one shot...possibly another full story, so R&R and let me know what you think.
1. Chapter 1

What Goes Up

Stolen glances, that's all Jade McHale got since arriving at Hogwarts from Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of their age and the bane of the blue eyed girl's existence. They were in the library now like they always were, other than the wavy haired Gryffindor, Jade was the only other student who spent the same amount of time, if not more in the drafty rows of leather bound tomes. This curiosity had started weeks ago. Jade showing up one day after classes in Hermione's favorite study spot far away from the distractions of other students and life in general.

The Ravenclaw had paid the brunette no mind as she would huff and groan about not being able to sit at the table that she was so accustomed to and in turn would sit across from the dark haired girl and seethe silently at her. Jade knew that Hermione spent most of her time in the library or with her two best friends, the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekick Ronald Weasley. All of it was bland to the Ravenclaw who was once again, stealing looks over the top of her book at the brunette across from her. It was Friday night and here they were, two teenage witches spending the beginning of their weekend in the drafty library, how droll.

"Nothing exciting in the Gryffindor Tower on Friday night?" Jade's voice was smooth, but mocking as she addressed the girl across from her. "Weasley not tethering your to his arm tonight? Or do you really find entertainment in all these books?"

"I could ask you the same thing." The Gryffindor retorted firmly, not tearing her eyes away from the colossal book open on her lap. "No parties in Ravenclaw? Or do you just like to torture me with your presence?" Jade couldn't suppress the smirk that spread across her lips or the chuckle that escaped her mouth. Gryffindors and their pride.

"Oh you know how I love to make your time here enjoyable." Blue eyes finally looked proper at the girl. "I doubt that you get many witty conversations with that ginger." Hermione hated when Jade referred to Ron as a ginger, albeit the truth, it was still rude.

"If you hadn't stolen my spot a few weeks ago, we wouldn't be seeing so much of each other." Hermione's patience was wearing thin. She swore that Jade should've been sorted into Slytherin the way she liked to mock her, it bordered on Malfoyism. "What's your problem with Ron anyway? He's barely said two words to you since you arrived here."

"You mean besides the fact that he's a blithering moron?" Jade scoffed annoyed with the question. It didn't take a scientist to realize not much was in Ronald Weasley's head except hot air and an oversized ego. The boy barely had any sense at all to see his own girlfriend was unhappy. "Or that he feeds off you and Potter to get through his classes? Take your pick." The brunette finally lifted her brown eyes to glare at the dark haired girl, a scowl marring her face. Jade just rolled her eyes and shut her book before turning her chair so she was facing the other girl. "Honestly, why are you with him? He's like a grindylow, forever attached and pulling you down to suffocate the life from you! Don't think I haven't noticed."

"How dare you!" Hermione slammed her book shut with a thud that resonated through the empty library. "How dare you presume anything about my relationship with Ron! You don't know him or I for that matter!" It was the Ravenclaw's turn to scowl as she straightened up in her chair and leaned forward.

"Please Granger." She spat through gritted teeth. "We both know I'm as smart as you, if not smarter, since I can see what you can't apparently. Tell me, honestly, that you're happy with him? The fact that I see you in here most evenings till curfew tells me you're not." The brunette visibly stumbled at the accusation and her mouth closed as she thought of a good answer. Jade smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's what I thought. Why do you let him use you?"

"He doesn't use me." The brunette replied trying to maintain her pride. "He cares about me and he's my best friend."

"Best friends aren't meant to be in relationships." The blue eyed girl stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "He uses you for school, protection…you even helped him get on the quidditch team and does he thank you or show his appreciation? No! He just expects it from you! Poor pathetic Granger, can't even think for herself anymore unless it's about school." Hermione stood abruptly and strode over to the girl sitting across the aisle who squared her shoulders as the brunette slapped her hard across the face. A shocked look slowly made its way onto the Gryffindor's face as she realized what she had just done as a smug grin graced Jade's lips.

"I-I'm sorry Jade." Hermione whispered as Jade stood slowly, the left side of her face bright red from the assault. The brunette cowered away slightly as the Ravenclaw's figure rose and towered over her. Jade was only three inches taller than the brunette, but now she seemed much taller as she took a slow step forward toward the shocked girl.

"Now where has that Hermione been hiding?" The dark haired girl rarely used Hermione's first name and it took the Prefect off guard. "I'd like to get to know this girl." Jade took another step forward as Hermione took another back, the dance continued until she was up against the cold stone wall. A smirk spread across parted lips as the taller girl trapped the brunette by planting her palms on either side of Hermione's head.

"Please." It was a breathy plea for her freedom as blue eyes stopped a mere two inches from the Gryffindors.

"An eye for an eye Granger." Jade whispered tilting her head slightly to analyze her prey's face. "What happened to that bold lioness that just assaulted me? What would she do if she were here instead of this kitten?" A blur in the blue eyed girl's left peripheral vision as she caught Hermione's wrist before it connected with her face again. The Ravenclaw chuckled as she pinned said wrist against the wall by the brunette's head. "Pretending to be my lioness won't get you very far." Hermione swallowed hard as the taller girl leaned in slowly until she could feel Jade's breath on her hair. She was getting lost in deep azure eyes and without warning her free arm wrapped tightly around the raven haired girl's neck and pulled her down to bridge the distance between their lips. Hermione's mouth was hungry and this was only brought out by Jade. Her hands made her feel wanted, not Ron's. Her mouth made her mind go blank and her body made the brunette's tremble. This was the second time this had happened. Their arguments had led to heated discussion which led to Jade's lips finding the brunette's possessively. After the first time Hermione tried hard to avoid the Ravenclaw, but she had left a longing after the first encounter. A burning that caught the Gryffindor off guard at the most inappropriate times like during class with the Ravenclaws or in the dining hall.

"There's my lion." Jade whispered as she pressed her body against Hermione's and released her wrist so hands could tangle in black satin locks. The brunette responded by sighing and trying to fuse her body with the taller one holding her around the waist. Jade gently bit the Gryffindor's bottom lip before slipping her tongue past parted lips. A moan floated through the air and Hermione moved back to sit on the large window sill while Jade adjusted so her hips were in between the shorter girl's legs.

"Why do you affect me so much." Hermione moaned as Jade's lips maneuvered down her neck and nipped hungrily at her collarbone. "I hate you."

"I hate you too." Jade smirked before gently sucking on the spot on the brunette's neck she knew would make the proud Gryffindor shudder with pleasure. Her hands ran down slender sides to Hermione's hips and pulled her flush against her own while wrapping the other girl's legs around her waist. "So just shut up and enjoy it." Any other time Hermione would've told the girl off, but how could she when she was pleasuring her so? So instead she grabbed a handful of black hair and pulled Jade's lips from her neck before crashing them into her own. This wasn't right, her mind was screaming at her to stop, she had a boyfriend, she was straight, but this felt amazing to be wanted so carnally and to give back so unrelenting. Hermione couldn't hold back anymore as she started rolling her hips into the taller Ravenclaw's which caused Jade to moan beautifully in the brunette's mouth. Nails raked down Jade's neck as her hands found the small of her prey's back and pushed her firmly against her hips as she rolled them back firmly.

"We sh-shouldn't be doing th-this." Hermione stuttered as Jade started to unbutton the top of her dress shirt and loosened the gold and red tie. She gasped as teeth gently bit at the swell of her breasts and Jade's hands continued to undo her shirt.

"Then stop me." The Ravenclaw hissed against her skin as she kissed down the valley of Hermione's breasts. "Tell me you want me to stop." Her hips rolled firmly against the brunette's which enticed a throaty moan. "Make me stop." Another moan as a hand slid up Hermione's stomach and gently cupped her breast. The Gryffindor knew damn well she wasn't going to ask the experienced girl to stop. It hadn't gone this far the last time because she did ask the girl to stop and she had respectively. If one thing was true, Jade McHale was very respectful…aside from her being very rude to the prefect. Hermione's thoughts ceased as a hand left a trail of fire from her knee up her thigh slowly. Although she and Ron had been together for a few months, he had never made Hermione lose control like she was now. When Jade was close she couldn't control the fire that would burn and when she would engage in their arguments she always wanted it to end this way. Pressure was building in the brunette's core as she felt skilled fingers pressing against the damp fabric between her legs. All thought processes were gone as she dug her nails into Jade's shoulders as her body shook as wave after wave of pleasure ran through every nerve in her body. Her face was buried in the taller girl's shoulder to muffle her cries at the peak of her climax as Jade's strong arms held her steady around the waist. Hermione's head was still swimming as she sat back against the cold stone on the window sill, Jade's arms still around her waist and they were both breathing heavily.

"That was…" Hermione was still trying to catch her breath as her arms were still latched around Jade's neck holding the taller girl close. Before the brunette could finish her sentence, Jade's lips were on hers again, but this kiss was different. It wasn't hungry or wanting, it was gently and innocent and the Gryffindor kissed back softly. Jade pulled away and gently cupped her lover's face, her blue eyes were dark still with the remnants of lust, but she was being uncharacteristically gentle.

"That was great." Jade finished the Gryffindor's thoughts and started buttoning the girl's shirt. She then stood back and began straightening her own clothes and tie before adjusting Hermione's tie. Jade leaned forward with a smirk on her face before capturing the brunette's lips once more in a soft, lingering kiss that made the prefect's knees go weak. "I hope it doesn't keep you up all night." With that, Jade stepped back before winking at Hermione and grabbed her shoulder back. One more look from those blue eyes and she walked down the aisle and out of the library, leaving a very flustered, yet satisfied brunette. Hermione took a few calming breaths as she smoothed out her clothes and picked up her own bag. A few moments later she was walking through the corridors and up the staircases to Gryffindor Tower. She knew she should feel guilty, she'd cheated on Ron with a female no less. A female who not only insulted Hermione on a regular basis, but could make her feel things she never thought she could. The mocking wink Jade left her with from the library was haunting her in a good way. All she was thinking about was their escapades and the things the girl did to make her feel so free. With Jade everything was instinctual, erotic, and natural. Hermione could feel her face start to flush thinking about the way the Ravenclaw touched her so right and as she entered the common room she saw Ron and Seamus discussing quidditch on the couch.

"Hey 'Mione!" Ron greeted as he stood up and kissed the brunette on the cheek. "Where have you been?" Hermione pulled out of his grasp slightly and ran a hand through her hair.

"Just the library." She feigned a yawn and stretched her arms. "But if you don't mind I'm going to get to bed. Long evening of studying."

**_Studying…_** She thought to herself as she mentally rolled her eyes. **_Right…lots of heavy studying. _**Ron just sighed and crossed his arms.

"Blimey Hermione I haven't seen you all day with classes." He complained as he sat down on the arm of the couch. "Is the library really more exciting than I am?" Hermione couldn't suppress the grin that was crossing her lips or the thoughts that were creeping into her head of a certain dark haired girl in the tower to the west.

"To me it is Ron." The brunette said as she started walking up the stair case to her dorm room. "Very exciting indeed."


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Harry Potter, just the story and Jade, also, I changed Fleur to be same age as Harry and the others for a bit of fun.

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Chapter 2: Shadows

Jade walked back through the corridors with a smug smile on her face. The bright Hermione Granger, rendered speechless by her ministrations. How ironic that it was the Ravenclaw that brought about her wild side instead of her boyfriend Weasley. She wondered if this would continue. They were rivals, intelligently and physically, it seemed since their first meeting that Hermione had gotten bolder and it made the Ravenclaw's skin tingle. Who knew the Gryffindor had such a wild side?

"Read any good books Jade?" Cho Chang was still up with Luna and Padma looking at some magazines by the fire. Jade hadn't told anyone about her R rated activities with Hermione Granger in the library and she wondered what her friend would think. They all knew she was attracted to girls, but since Jade had arrived in their fifth year she had never had a girlfriend.

"Oh nothing too exciting." Jade answered flopping down on the couch next to her friends. Her arms folded behind her head and she sighed heavily staring into the crackling fire. "How about you guys? Any rowdy parties going on here?" The girls giggled and shook their heads as the dark haired girl noticed the magazines they were looking at. "Still trying to find a way to seduce the boys are you?" The girls erupted in a fit of giggles as Jade rolled her eyes and chuckled before stretching her arms.

"Not all of us have your charms Jade." Padma shot her a playful glance as the blue eyed girl smirked and rolled her eyes. "So why were you really down there for so long on a Friday night?"

"I had some interesting company." Jade answered nonchalantly as she stretched her legs out to enjoy the heat from the fire. "Nothing much more than that really and some reading for class next Monday."

"Well who was the company?" Cho asked now that she was much more interested in the conversation. "A girl? Someone we know? Huh?!"

"It was and yes." The Ravenclaw answered easily. "But that's all you get." She stood slowly and smirked at the three girls. "Have a good night ladies." The other girls sighed, disappointed, as black hair swished and Jade made her way up to her dorm.

**_Oh wouldn't they get a kick if they knew. _**She thought to herself as she entered her room and readied for bed.

x-x

The next day Hermione sat in the Great Hall eating breakfast with her friends when the blue eyed girl entered and it seemed like all movement and chatter stopped. The brunette hated to admit, but the girl was flawless in appearance. She walked gracefully with her hair flowing behind her and she made eye contact with Hermione momentarily as a smirk crossed her lips before winking and making her way over to the Ravenclaw table.

**_The nerve of her! _**Hermione thought to herself as she gulped down the rest of her pumpkin juice. Despite her looks, Jade was cunning and harsh most of the time. The Gryffindor had only seen her soft side the other night in the library and that was shocking to her. A blush started to spread across her cheeks as she recalled the events from the library.

"You all right 'Mione?" Ron asked with a mouth full of food as he saw the red on her cheeks. "You look a little flush."

"I'm fine Ronald." She answered firmly as she shook her head and finished her food. Hermione glanced back over her shoulder and watched Jade laughing with Cho and Luna. Blue eyes glanced her way again and gave her a sly smile. The brunette groaned as she rose from her seat. "I'm going to go check a book out of the library."

"Oh come on Hermione!" Ron exclaimed as he huffed loudly at his girlfriend. "You're always there! Why don't you spend some time with me today?" Hermione sighed as she crossed her arms in a very annoyed manner.

"Well what do you plan to do today Ron?" The girl asked sternly as a scowl graced her facial features.

"Harry, Ginny, and I are going to go to Hogsmeade." The red head answered trying hard to convince his girlfriend to join them. "We're going to visit the shops and get some lunch. Come with us." The brunette sighed and tapped her foot as she thought about what to do.

"I'll meet you guys in the courtyard in a couple hours then." She replied as she spun on her heel and walked hastily away from the boys. In her hurry to get out of the hall to get to the library, she hadn't noticed the figure that pulled her aside into an alcove when she reached the third floor.

"What's your hurry Granger?" That smooth voice whispered as the prefect crashed into Jade's chest. "That eager to get away from that blockhead?" Hermione scoffed as she tried to wiggle her way out of the Ravenclaw's strong arms around her waist.

"Why are you always around at the worst times?" Hermione spat as she got arm's length away from the blue eyed girl. "Don't you have someone else to torture?" A familiar heat was growing in her stomach as Jade leaned closer with that telltale smirk on her lips and she pressed Hermione flush against her lithe body.

"Oh Granger." Jade feigned hurt as she ran a hand up the brunette's back. "You must know by now that you're the only one I like to _torture._" The last word sent a chill up Hermione's spine as the Ravenclaw leaned forward and caught the prefect's lips in a hungry kiss. The brunette wanted to slap the girl, she wanted to shout and bite the lips that were kissing her, but her hormones had other ideas. The hand that wanted to slap tangled in black hair as the bite became a nibble on Jade's lower lip possessively. Jade smirked against the kiss as she pulled away slightly and looked into brown eyes. "You're so different around me Granger, why can't you be yourself around your friends?" Hermione didn't think she acted any different with Harry or Ron, but when she was with Jade her bravery came out and she had to admit that the Ravenclaw challenged her in good and bad ways.

"I don't think my friends or _boyfriend, _for that matter," Hermione said firmly as she pulled back a little with Jade's arms still around her waist. "Would appreciate me snogging you in front of them." Blue eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of the brunette's so called 'boyfriend' who had no idea of the events going on.

"If Weasley wasn't blind don't you think he should be satisfying you?" Sarcasm was a fluent language in the Ravenclaw's vocabulary and Hermione found herself enjoying the banter between them every now and again. "I forget that he likes to interact with his quidditch teammates than interact with his girlfriend."

"Is that jealousy in your voice McHale?" Hermione quipped as she watched Jade's blue eyes looked at her and black hair swished as the Ravenclaw shook her head.

"Why would I be jealous of that buffoon?" Jade answered snidely as she pulled the brunette closer to her again. "But why are we talking about him when we could be doing something much more enjoyable?" Hermione couldn't help the giggle that escaped her throat as Jade leaned down and kissed her possessively.

x-x

Jade was trying hard to ignore the sight before her in the courtyard. Hermione Granger, in the arms of that lumbering fool Weasley. The Ravenclaw was sitting peacefully on the ledge of the fountain as the four Gryffindors walked out of the castle. The-boy-who-lived holding the Weasley girl's hand and Ron having his arm firmly around Hermione's shoulders. Jade wasn't one for jealousy as blue eyes trailed the foursome slyly. Not an hour ago her hands were under the gold girl's blouse and her lips were stifling heated moans in the corridor. The dark haired girl smirked to herself as she flipped a page in her book as the group passed.

"No one to keep you company half breed?" Draco Malfoy, a snake of a human waltzed out with two of his lackeys eyeing the girl as they approached the fountain. Out of her peripherals, Jade saw the Gryffindor gang halt and watch the blonde boy closely. "Don't really blame them, wouldn't want to get fur on my cloak." What a lame insult. His sidekicks chuckled obediently as Jade just continued to ignore them.

"If this is because I turned you down last week when you asked me out," The blue eyed girl said calmly, not even bothering to lift her gaze from her book. "Then I hardly think this behavior is called for. Go nurse your ego somewhere else Malfoy." The boy twitched with anger as a few of the surrounding students laughed.

"Like I'd ever date you." He spat angrily taking a step closer to her. "You'd probably just turn me into a monster like you." A few oohs from the other students around the courtyard filled the air after the boy's proclamation. Most students in her year knew Jade was half lycan and they'd either embrace it or shun her, but she couldn't care less about it. Friends to her were scarce with being a half lycan lesbian and she didn't see the need for companionship in this glorified high school. "Oh, did I hurt your feelings?"

"I feel bad for you." Jade answered nonchalantly, finally looking up and closing her book. "You're alone; I can see it in your pathetic, scared eyes." The girl stood and was eye to eye with the boy. "Maybe if you didn't put on this show for your so called 'friends', people might actually like you." The students around them were silent as Draco stood with a shocked expression on his face. "I pity you." With that said, Jade walked past the stunned Slytherin and down towards the path to Hogsmeade.

"Look out!" Jade turned and she extended her arm just in time to deflect a hex that was in line with her head. Malfoy was shaking with anger as he sent another curse flying and she deflected again easily.

"Expelliarmus." With a flick of her fingers, the boy was disarmed, his wand flying into Jade's hand as if it was afraid to disobey her. She noticed Hermione had her wand drawn and concluded that she had yelled the warning. As the Ravenclaw walked calmly up the path, she flicked her wrist and sent Malfoy back as he fell on his ass. "At least have some respect to attack me to my face." There were no biting words, no anger in her voice as she dropped his wand at his feet and turned on her heel to leave. Hermione's mouth was opened slightly as the raven haired girl walked past with her tresses flowing elegantly behind her. Blue eyes glanced sideways at her and she saw the smallest smirk on the other girl's face.

"Well that was interesting wasn't it?" Ron chimed as they followed Jade, a ways back mind you, down the path to the village. "Finally got what he deserved, the great prat." As her friends continued to talk about the ordeal, Hermione's thoughts were on a particular school mate. She could still see her hair in the distance dancing in the breeze as they reached the small village. Her friends were headed into the quidditch supply store and the brunette groaned loudly.

"I'll be in the bookstore when you guys are done in there." Ron barely acknowledged her as Harry nodded and waved as she walked away in the opposite direction. The bookstore was fairly empty and the prefect decided to take a seat in the back on a very plush lounge chair after finding a book on occlumency.

"Are you stalking me Granger?" A smooth voice filled the brunette's ears as she turned to see Jade sitting on a couch in an alcove to her left. Blue eyes were glued to her page as Hermione examined the girl.

"O-Of course not." Hermione tried hard to bite back her stutter as she opened her own book. "I'm a bookworm; I'm expected to be here." Jade chuckled softly as she turned a page and sighed.

"I don't view you as a bookworm, lion." The Gryffindor's cheeks began to flush at Jade's nickname for her. No one else called her anything other than 'Granger' or 'Mione' and honestly aroused her when the Ravenclaw would use it.

"Well, you're the only one then." She said clearing her throat and pretended to read her book. After a few moments of silence, curiosity finally got the best of the brunette. "What do you see me as?" Jade smirked before looking up at the brunette.

"I see a girl who is scared to be herself." Jade ran a hand through her hair and pushed it all over one shoulder. "But underneath that, I see my lion, someone who is clawing to be noticed as someone other than a bookworm. Just because that's what your friends see doesn't mean it's what everyone sees." Hermione wanted to argue, but it was true. Everyone in her year and even younger students saw her as the studious golden girl of Gryffindor. The brains behind Harry Potter, albeit true, she didn't want that to be what she was known for. "You're brave Granger, every bit a Gryffindor that's for sure. Why don't you let people see that?"

"Because I like to keep to myself." The brunette answered quietly as she looked up from her book. "I don't care what everyone else thinks as long as my friends are still my friends." The Ravenclaw chuckled at the other girl and closed her book quietly.

"You're something else Granger." The raven haired girl brushed her bangs away from her face and gave the girl a small smile. "I'd like to see how your little Ronny handles the real you since he can't see anything but you being a know-it-all." Hermione sighed as her friends decided to walk in at that moment chatting animatedly about the new broom that was out on the market that was supposed to be faster than the firebolt.

"I'm telling ya mate." Ron said as they approached Hermione and Jade's gaze returned to her book. "That'll put us at a mad advantage if you could get that broom." Harry just rolled his green eyes as Hermione closed her book and shoved it back in its place on the shelf. "Get some good reading in 'Mione?" The red head leaned down and pecked her softly on the cheek and the girl suddenly found herself embarrassed that Jade had seen it as a blush bloomed out on her cheeks.

"Erm, yeah." Hermione answered as she took a step away from Ron and brought her bag up over her shoulder. "Yeah I did actually." The brunette turned around to look at the Ravenclaw and received a small smirk. "Will I see you later uhm…in the library for help with those Divination readings?"

"Sure thing." Jade answered nonchalantly as Hermione smiled softly at her before following her friends out the door.

"Why do you hang out with her?" Ron asked as his arm snaked its way around her waist. "She's like having another Malfoy in the school."

"She's not that bad." Hermione said as they quartet made their way into Honeyduke's to get some sweets for the week. "The worst thing about her is her sarcasm really, but it's tolerable once you get used to it, not really as harmful as Malfoy in my opinion." Ron just rolled his eyes as the scents of sugar and chocolate engulfed her senses. Hermione and Ginny went off together while Harry and Ron went to collect their Bertie Bott's beans.

"You do spend a lot of time with her y'know." Ginny chimed as they were looking at some chocolate frogs. "I know you spend a lot of time in the library, but every time I'm there and you are, so is she and you're usually arguing." The brunette sighed as she picked some sweets for herself and followed Ginny as they perused the rest of the candy around.

"She just likes the same things that I do." The prefect admitted finally. "Even though she's sarcastic and what not, she challenges me intellectually and I don't get that from Ron or Harry…or anyone really. No offense Gin."

"None taken." The red headed girl laughed as they made their way to the clerk. "I don't know many people that can keep up with you mentally Hermione. I just never knew Jade was that person."

"Neither did I." The brunette said quietly.

x-x

Jade sighed heavily as the day turned to evening and her eyes still scanned the Ancient Runes book in front of her in the empty library. Even Madame Pince was gone and had entrusted the Ravenclaw to take responsibility while she was away. The girl didn't know why she was getting jealous of the Weasley king, his girlfriend was often half naked with her most weekends and at least once during the week since last month. So why was she envious of the red head?

**_Maybe it's because he knows her in a different way and all you own is her body. _**Her mind mused as a scowl crossed her face. **_She'd never choose you over him. You're just a phase._**

"Whatever." Jade hissed out loud as she ran a hand through her long hair.

"Excusez-moi?" A soft voice sand through the empty rows of books, through the air and into the blue eyed girl's ears. "Is anyone 'ere?" Jade sighed and stood from her seat before walking into the aisle way to see a stunning blonde girl looking back at her with piercing blue eyes.

"Madame Pince isn't here." The Ravenclaw answered as the girl began to approach her. "Do you need something?"

"I was just looking for a book on Arithmancy." The blonde answered gently. "But I am new 'ere, could you 'elp me please?" Jade swallowed as she noticed the girl wearing Slytherin robes and holding a rather heavy looking bag of books.

"Sure, follow me." Jade waved her hand to signal the girl to follow. "My name is Jade McHale by the way, I'm in Ravenclaw house. How about you?"

"Fleur Delacour." The blonde mused as she followed the dark haired girl to the back of the library. "Slytherin 'ouse, what year are you in, may I ask?" They took a left turn to the Arithmancy section.

"My sixth and you?"

"Sixth also." Fleur said as she began searching the shelves for the book she needed. "You're not English? Where are you from?" Jade smiled as blue eyes, a shade or two lighter than hers examined her with curiosity.

"American, I transferred here last school year." Jade watched as the girl finally found her book and flicked her wand to call it to her. "You're French I'm assuming; your English is very good. Why did you transfer here? I thought the French weren't very fond of the Brits." Fleur put her book into her bag and leaned against the table at the base of the book shelf. She was almost as tall as the Ravenclaw, perhaps a hair shorter, but her eyes were intense and the half lycan found herself staring a few times which caused a smile to grace Miss Delacour's lips.

"My mo'zer got assigned to the Ministry 'ere." The blonde witch answered as she crossed her arms and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "What about you? Why did you come to 'Ogwarts?"

"Family differences." Jade answered firmly as she sat on the table across from the new Slytherin girl. "I didn't really get along with my father. Nothing to dramatic or worth discussion really."

"Well thank you Jade for 'elping me find this book." The blonde said as she stood and straightened out her robes. "I would really like if you could show me around tomorrow maybe?" With another flash of her perfect teeth she started to make her way out. Jade stood and followed the new girl into the walk way.

"I'd like that." They fell in stride next to one another. Fleur smiled as they walked to the exit together. "Tomorrow? In the Great Hall then?"

"After breakfast?" Fleur asked as they stood outside of the entrance to the library. "I'll meet you outside the 'all then." Jade nodded and smiled at the girl. Fleur flashed a smile before walking towards the dungeons and waved. This was new, but maybe this was what she needed. Stop being a flirt and try and actually form a relationship with someone. Perhaps Fleur Delacour would prove to be a fresh start for the half lycan. As she started to walk back into the library she heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction. Soon the brown curls of Hermione came into view. The Ravenclaw sighed to herself, feeling her heart jump at seeing the Gryffindor prefect.

"Have you been waiting long?" Hermione asked a little out of breath as she passed and walked into the library.

"Not too long." Jade answered as she followed the brunette back to the Divination section of the library. Hermione sighed and flopped her bag onto the table as she sat down heavily. The dark haired girl knew that Divination was difficult for the brunette being a scientific creature and not seeing any real logic in seeing into the future and what not. Still, be that as it may, she wanted top marks in the subject and that involved study sessions with the Ravenclaw.

"I'm sorry I'm late." The shorter girl apologized as she pulled out her book and a piece of parchment. "Ron and I got into it and…well it took a while before I could escape." Jade tried hard to hide the rolling of her eyes, but Hermione caught her and huffed indignantly.

"Sorry if my sarcastic facial expressions insult you." The half lycan answered harshly. "My fault that I think you shouldn't be dating that boy." The dark haired girl sighed and brought her fingers up to pinch the bridge of her nose. There was no denying that she had growing feelings for the Golden Girl, but she was currently dating someone who was a horrible match for her. "I don't think we can meet like this anymore Granger." Hermione's brown eyes snapped up to look at Jade questioningly. "Whatever this is between us…these meetings. You're dating Weasley, and we just shouldn't be doing this."

"Jade I…" The brunette stuttered as she looked at the Ravenclaw girl in shock. "I know I'm with Ron, but…"

"I know he can't satisfy you like I can." A smirk spread across the taller girl's lips as she tried to lighten the mood. "But I don't think we should continue our…escapades, for your sake and his perhaps." Jade looked down and saw hurt flash behind those brown eyes as Hermione nodded numbly, knowing that what they were doing was infidelity whether Ron was aware or not. "This is good for you though, not like you had feelings for me or anything." The prefect tensed slightly at the word 'feelings' as she thought back on the last time they'd met earlier today. She enjoyed Jade's company and intellectual interests, but did she actually have feelings for her beyond physical attraction?

"You're right." She answered quietly after a moment of silence. "I was daft to let it go on after the first time. I don't know what I was thinking." Jade's chest was getting tight as she grabbed her bag and turned to leave.

"Maybe you should talk to Weasley about how you feel." The half lycan said softly over her shoulder. "He does care for you though a little slow at showing it, but maybe he just doesn't know you outside of friendship, and a relationship shouldn't be the same as being friends, there has to be more." That being said, Jade rummaged through her bag and pulled out her Divination book and tossed it to the brunette who caught it on her lap. "My notes are in there; just give it back in class on Monday, yeah?" Hermione nodded and thanked the girl who nodded before flashing the girl a small smile, then left without another word. When Jade's footsteps faded, the prefect sighed heavily, feeling a pull on her chest. She was sad. Sad that the small escape she had from people who knew her as an uptight know-it-all was gone. Sad that she had let it get to the point where it ending made her heart ache. She shouldn't feel hurt; it wasn't a relationship or even a friendship, but knowing that she wouldn't see Jade outside of class made Hermione feel heavy. Before leaving the library, she gently put Jade's book in her bag and grabbed her paper to head back to her house. The corridors were cold and empty as she walked to the familiar route to Gryffindor Tower, up the moving stair cases and through the portrait.

"Back already 'Mione?" Ginny asked with a surprised tone in her voice. "You were there barely fifteen minutes, that's not like you." The brunette just sighed and ran a hand through her wavy hair.

"Just got tired of trying to figure out Divination is all." Hermione answered. A likely answer from her as it being her worst subject.

"Well I'm sure arguing with Ron didn't help." The younger girl mentioned as she pulled the blanket tighter around her legs. "Did he apologize yet?"

"What do you think?" The brunette quipped as Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes I don't think he has a brain at all." Hermione giggled at the comment, but soon remembered the real reason she was back so soon.

"I'm off to bed Gin." She said quietly as she walked up the stairs to her private room. Ginny bid her goodnight before the prefect disappeared behind her bedroom door.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3: Tenacious

The next morning consisted of the brunette sleeping in until ten in the morning, which was late for her. She had hoped her feelings of sadness would've faded with the night, but when she got out of bed the heavy feeling in her chest was still present as she walked to the bathroom and washed her face. When she made her way down to the common room, Harry was the only one there and he was reading the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning Harry." She greeted as she sat down on the couch next to him. "Did you already have breakfast?" The boy shook his head as he folded the paper and set it on the couch.

"Ron and Ginny went early, said something about getting in some extra quidditch practice." Harry ran a hand through his hair and turned his green eyes towards his friend. "Do you want to go down with me?" Hermione just nodded as he rose and she followed him out of the portrait and down the stairs. "So are you and Ron speaking yet?"

"Of course not." The prefect said firmly as they neared the Great Hall. "I honestly don't even remember what we were fighting about, but I'm sure he does." They walked in together to see their red headed friends eating and conversing with their house mates. Hermione tried not to, but she couldn't help to scan the Ravenclaw table to search for familiar blue eyes. To her disappointment, Jade was nowhere to be see, granted it was later in the morning so it was very possible that she had already eaten.

"You all right 'Mione?" Harry asked as they sat down and he noticed the blank look on her face. The brunette was capable of many emotions, but never had he seen is bright friend look so void of feeling. "I think you should really eat something. You're looking a bit peaky."

"I think you're right Harry." The brunette answered as she brought her attention back to her friend. She tried her best to eat and pay attention to the conversations going on around her. Ron was still keeping his distance as he would eye her every now and then and she tried hard to find it in her to get over their argument.

"Did ya guys hear we got a new girl yesterday?" Seamus said brightly as leaned closer to his friends. "I hear she's real looker, blonde hair and blue eyes, sadly I think she got sorted inta Slytherin, the gits." Immediately all the boys in the hall started looking around towards the Slytherin table.

"I don't see anyone like that there mate." Dean said as he turned back to face his friend. "You sure you're just not getting faulty information again?"

"Nah this is for real this time!" The boy exclaimed waving his arms around to try and add solidity to his story. "She probably just got here early so she could find all the class rooms and such." Hermione just sighed, she didn't really care about what the boys were saying about a new student or the fact that said student was supposed to be attractive.

"Hey 'Mione?" Ron said quietly as he slid down the bench to be sitting across from her. "Look, I hate us arguing, and I'm sorry that we did. Can we just start talking again? I hate getting the cold shoulder." The brunette sighed as she finally raised her gaze to her boyfriend and nodded. He smiled brightly, not catching that she really wasn't in the mood to talk and promptly leaned over the table and kissed her on the cheek. "Did you want to head down to the lake later with Ginny and Harry? We are going to go fishing, muggle style." For some reason the red headed boy was extremely proud that they were going to go fishing without magic and Hermione found humor in it.

"I suppose that would be entertaining." She answered finally as she gave him a small smile. "Are you going after we get done here?" Ron nodded as Ginny slid down and bumped into the prefect gently.

"Glad you two finally made up!" Ginny said as she put an arm around the older witch's shoulders. "You and Harry can help us with the fishing poles once we get down there. Since Ron and I have never been fishing before." Hermione laughed as she finally started to feel lighter and joined her friends in on the conversation.

x-x

"You 'ave a lot of interesting things 'ere." Fleur said as they walked away from the quidditch pitch in the cool air that was signaling the end of the summer season. "First the castle, the dark forest, and the quidditch pitch. I mean, we 'ave quidditch at Beauxbatons, but the English take it more seriously than we do." Jade chuckled, the students here did take the sport like it was a life or death situation, even in American they didn't really have a sport that many took too seriously besides muggle football.

"It took me a while to get accustomed to the castle and the hidden passageways." Jade said as they began to walk towards the black lake which was their final stop on the grounds. All in all the tour had been very successful since the Ravenclaw had learned a lot about the French girl in her company. Besides being naturally beautiful, Fleur Delacour was very intelligent and part veela, which Jade found very intriguing as she was half lycan. They had talked about it through most of their time together other than the Ravenclaw explaining where classrooms are and other things about the school itself. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you more detailed descriptions, but I'm not a prefect or anything."

"Don't worry about it." Fleur waved her hand dismissively in the air as they reached the edge of the lake. "I'm sure it's more fun as a learning experience anyways." She turned her blue eyes towards the lake and sighed as the breeze blew her platinum blonde hair around her face. "It is beautiful 'ere, I think this is my favorite place so far." The blonde turned and smiled at the dark haired girl next to her. Jade was in fact, one inch taller than Fleur, but one would hardly notice unless they were standing back to back. "So tell me Jade, Harry Potter goes to this school correct?" Jade nodded as she turned her darker blue eyes towards the water and smirked slightly. "Does that make school 'ere any 'arder? I imagine he's talented in magic after all." The Ravenclaw expected Fleur to ask if she could introduce her to the boy-who-lived instead of asking if it affected the learning curve.

"It doesn't really make a difference actually." Jade answered as she glanced over at the blonde who was taking in the sunshine. "He is talented, but a lot of his success is dumb luck. Regardless, he is a talented wizard. Don't worry if you think you'd need to keep up with him, I have top marks I all the classes and he struggles to keep his."

"Oh," Fleur said curiously as she turned towards her tour guide. "So it's you I 'ave to look out for?"

"Are you sure you got sorted into the right house?" Jade asked smirking at the Slytherin. "You seem quite pleasant to be in a house full of tools and jerks."

"Tools?" Fleur's light blue eyes were confused as she looked at the Ravenclaw.

"It's just an American term for assholes." The half lycan answered with a chuckle.

"Well," The veela said kicking a pebble into the water. "The sorting 'at said I was very ambitious and determined, that's why it sorted me there. Not really knowing much about the sorting I didn't really think much of it until I met my 'ousemates. I imagine I will be spending a lot of time making new friends outside of the dungeons."

"I don't think you'll have to try hard." Jade said as she sat down in the grass and stretched out her legs. "Not with how you look." The dark haired girl mentally smacked herself after letting the words slip out of her mouth and Fleur giggled and sat down next to her.

"And how do I look?" Fleur asked playfully as gave Jade a winning smile. "Not 'orrible I 'ope."

"Far from horrible." Jade said as a blush started to spread on her cheeks. "Well I just mean, you're not exactly hard on the eyes. I'm sure you won't have a problem making friends."

"Ah, but I don't want friends that care about my looks." The French girl answered softly as she brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. "Being part veela, that's what it's like most of the time. People only care about us because we are attractive, but I want real friends. You're not speaking to me just because I'm pretty are you?"

"Of course not Fleur." The Ravenclaw answered as she leaned back on her elbows. "Although I have to be honest, it is a factor as to why I initially pursued when you asked me to show you around, but now that I know more about you, your looks are just a bonus." Another mental smack. Why was she letting her words slip like this?

"Well," Fleur sighed as she looked over at the half lycan. "I can't say that your looks didn't sway me to ask you." Jade laughed out loud as she let herself fall back on the grass.

"A couple of shallow girls aren't we?" She asked between chuckles as Fleur giggled with her. "Well, at least we can be honest with each other." The blonde nodded as she turned her eyes back to the water to see the giant squid reach its tentacles up to break through the surface of the water. Lively chatter suddenly broke the girls out of their reverie. Jade sat up to see the Famous Four walking down to the docks a few yards away with fishing poles in their hands. A small pull stirred in the Ravenclaw's chest seeing Hermione walking with her hand in Ron's, but she quickly threw it off when Fleur looked over in that direction.

"What are they doing?" The blonde asked as a confused look graced her face. Jade couldn't help the chuckled that escaped her throat. Wizards…sometimes they could be so innocent.

"They're going to go fishing." She answered and continued to explain how muggles used poles and sometimes spears to catch fish for sport and food. Fleur seemed very confused as to why the use of pointed sticks were used, but didn't ask too much as she watched the four Gryffindors cast their lines into the water. "I don't know if they're expecting to catch regular fish, but I've never seen one in the lake since I got here." The Slytherin girl smiled as they started to talk about the creatures that lived in the lake.

x-x

"Oi!" Ron nudged Harry with his elbow and leaned closer to his friend. "That sure looks like the girl Seamus described earlier doesn't it?" The raven haired boy turned and looked in the direction of his friend's gray eyes as he adjusted his glasses to fit firmly on the bridge of his nose. Sure enough there was a blonde girl that was particularly stunning sitting next to a dark haired girl she recognized as Jade McHale.

"Sure fits the description doesn't she?" Harry said quietly as he continued to look at the girls. "And I think that's Jade with her." Hermione's ears perked when she thought she heard Harry say something about Jade. She turned to face her friend and followed his gaze to see a blonde girl sitting with the Ravenclaw.

"Who is that?" She asked curiously as she went and stood next to Harry. A slight pang resonated through the brunette's body as she watched the girls chatting.

"We think it's the new girl that Seamus was talking about this morning." The green eyed boy answered as he turned to continue fishing. "Looks like Jade got a jump on her before anyone else huh?" Ron scoffed as he cast out his line again.

"She would, wouldn't she?" The red head said sarcastically lazily bobbing his pole. "I hear she's quite the womanizer." Hermione tensed slightly as Ginny came to join the trio and Harry filled her in as well as to what had caught their attention.

"Well Seamus was right wasn't he?" Ginny asked nudging Hermione. "She is attractive. I imagine that Lavender and Parvati are going to hate her straight away."

"I suppose they will." Hermione said quietly as he turned her eyes away from the girls by the lake. It was becoming difficult to ignore the fact that she had some sort of feeling for the Ravenclaw girl and was trying very hard to ignore it. She was with Ron and that's how it was meant to be. The four continued to fish with only catching a few grindylows and a sea turtle pulled Ron into the lake. Out of her peripherals, the brunette saw the two girls walking slowly in their direction. She huffed to herself as Ron, while soaking wet, started to puff out his chest as he noticed the girls approaching.

"Hello everyone." Jade greeted calmly as she stopped on the dock. "I'd like to introduce you to Fleur Delacour, she just transferred from France." The blonde gave her best smile to the four other students.

"Allo." Her accent was very heavy, but every now and then, mainly with h's it would come out. "It is nice to meet you all." Harry stepped forward and shook her hand as she leaned forward and chastely kissed both of his cheeks, leaving the Gryffindor blushing slightly. She greeted the other students the same with made Ginny feel a little better, but Hermione was fuming silently as Ron was blushing furiously and lacking in proper English.

"How do you like it here so far Fleur?" Harry asked as he reeled his line in and cast it out again. "Is it a lot different from Beauxbatons?"

"The castle is a bit more drafty 'ere." The blonde answered as she looked up at the clouds starting to roll into the sky. "That and it was an all girl's school. So it is nice to interact with males as well as females, we can be rather…catty." Jade chuckled slightly and coughed to regain her composure. Fleur shot her a playful glare as she turned her attention back to the Gryffindors.

"Well I see that you found a good person to make friends with." Hermione said firmly as she cast her line out again and tried to come off as nonchalant. "Jade here is very popular with the girls around here. I'm sure you'll be great friends." The Ravenclaw sighed and tried to ignore the comments her former lover was making at the blonde.

"Just certain females." Jade said calmly inspecting her nails and not making eye contact with Hermione. "I can't say all since not everyone at school is into girls."

"Oh, you're lesbienne?" Fleur asked seeming extremely surprised, but amused as she turned to face the dark haired girl. "'Ow interesting, 'ave you 'ad many relationships?"

"Not here." Jade answered truthfully as she crossed her arms over her chest and Ron was still gawking at the blonde with his mouth slightly open. "I haven't dated anyone since I got here honestly. Just flings I suppose." The word fling sent Hermione's teeth on edge.

"That's surprising." The blonde girl said tapping her chin in thought. "I would've thought you'd have loads of people waiting to go out with you."

"You'd think wouldn't you?" Jade said sarcastically as she leaned up against the dock fence lazily. "Well, I you're ready Fleur, how about we go get lunch and I show you around Hogsmeade."

"That's sounds lovely." Fleur said as she turned back towards the Gryffindors. "It was nice to meet all of you, I hope we can hang out again."

"See ya." The Ravenclaw said nonchalantly as she waved over her shoulder as the girls turned to leave. Her temper was rising at Hermione's comment about her being an avid stealer of girl's hearts…not in so many words, but it was implied. They made their way to the castle in relative silence.

"Are you all right Jade?" The blonde asked gently as they reached the covered bridge. "You seem a little…miffed?" The half lycan smiled at the other girl's vocabulary as they crossed the bridge slowly.

"I'm find Fleur," She said after taking a breath to calm her nerves. "You're right though I was a bit upset by what Hermione said. I'm not really a womanizer. How can I help that I'm irresistible to some women?" A smirk spread across her face as her normal nature was starting to come out. The blonde girl giggled softly as they reached the entrance to the castle and walked towards the Great Hall. Jade had never been a very serious person, so she always tried to change the subject when she would regain her composure.

"I suppose I can't blame anyone for falling under your spell."

"You should talk Miss Quarter Veela." Jade teased as they walked in and took seats at the Ravenclaw table. "I'm sure you could make anyone fall under your thrall." Fleur just smiled and straightened up slightly as she started gathering food on her plate.

"Once a veela picks her target they don't really stand a chance." The quarter veela shot a glance at Jade and smirked. This shooting back and forth of mild flirting was what had been happening most of the day. Harmless with undertones of seriousness that neither girl had caught on to yet. "Lycan's 'ave mates, non?"

"They do." The dark haired girl answered as she picked at her salad lazily. "Mates for life, do veelas?"

"The 'istory books get it wrong," Fleur said firmly as she sighed. "But we do, of course with full blooded veelas it is stronger and they find them usually by the age of eighteen. Half-bloods or less have a wider range of time. We can date and see what it's like to be with more than one person, but sometimes it can be frustrating when we date people 'oo only are with us because of our looks or thrall."

"I can imagine that would be annoying." After taking a sip from her water, Jade's blue eyes found Fleur's looking at her curiously. "What is it?"

"'Ow do you know when you've found your mates?" The veela asked, her eyes wide with curiosity. Jade couldn't help but smile as she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"We are supposed to know at first sight." The Ravenclaw answered. "But I assume it's much like veelas, since I'm half, I think it will be more difficult to find my mate. What about veelas?"

"Ours is a kiss." Fleur said dreamily as she ate some of her lunch and dabbed her mouth politely. "Specifically the first kiss, that's how many of my race know, but it can vary I suppose. My maman knew with my papa when they first held hands. So I guess it is with a touch." Jade nodded, it made sense. It seems with most magical creatures that had life-long mates there was some sort of happening to make them realize, hence where humans got such a silly notion that they could achieve love at first sight. The one's that did always seemed to have diluted creature blood. Jade smiled to herself on how her parents had met and how muggle romantic it had been which had caused her mother to fall so hard for her father.

"It's very interesting isn't it?" Jade said calmly as she turned her attention back to her food. "How, since our blood is diluted, we seem to have more freedom? I wonder if full blooded creatures feel…limited."

"I would think some feel like that." The veela said quietly. "But lots of full blooded creatures are very proud of their 'eritage, so I don't think it's an issue for many." The girls continued this conversation for a few minutes before finishing their lunch and heading back out on their trek to Hogsmeade. As they were walking down the path talking casually, they passed the four Gryffindors they met earlier. Fleur greeted them with a bright smile and a friendly nod as Jade nodded as they passed. Hermione Granger's brown eyes were on fire as blue eyes made contact for a brief moment. Jade wasn't trying to make the brunette jealous, but a smirk crossed her lips nevertheless knowing that she had left such a mark on the prefect. Maybe they would have to have a talk later to make sure their chance meetings wouldn't cause any more problems.

x-x

A week passed without Hermione and Jade speaking or seeing one another, which was pleasing, yet frustrating for the brunette. She had been more stressed out lately and very short with Ron with almost everything they talked about.

"Blimey Hermione," Harry said as they walked through the halls after potion's class. "Why have you been so hard on Ron lately? I mean I know he can be thick sometimes, but you've been abnormally snappy. Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine Harry." The brunette answered as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. "Just a little stressed with classes I suppose and Ron's being thicker than normal. I can't help him with his homework all the time since all he does is want me to do it!" This was the truth, Ron had been asking her to write the into, body, and conclusion to most of his essays in History of Magic and Charms class. Ron had hung back with Seamus and Neville as his two friends walked a few strides in front of him, fearing Hermione's wrath in case he said anything else wrong.

"You should talk to him about it." The raven haired boy said gently as he looked over his shoulder at his best friend. Hermione tensed slightly remembering that Jade had told her to talk to Ron as well about how she's been feeling lately. Despite the lack of each other, the Gryffindor missed the company of the snide Ravenclaw and was finding herself envying Fleur for spending so much time together as the whole school already figured they were in a relationship. The prefect often found herself wondering if she could've been in a relationship with the half lycan if she wasn't with Ron and it made her question their relationship. She entered the hall and sat down with a huff at the Gryffindor table and tried to discretely see if Jade was there. After a glance at the Slytherin table she saw the silvery-blonde hair of Fleur Delacour alone speaking with Blaise Zabini which for some reason pleased the prefect, but no Jade at the table behind her. Lunch went by and since Hermione had the rest of the afternoon off she went to her sanctuary to escape the onslaught of questions from Harry and the endless apologies from her boyfriend. Upon entering the drafty library she noticed several second years scattered around as she made her way to her typical spot in the back where it was quiet and found her once stolen spot free again to her disappointment. A heavy sigh escaped her lungs as she sat down in her new, old spot and opened her books.

"I give you seat back and you're still upset." A quiet voice floated into the air from her right. Brown waves bounced slightly as she turned her head to see Jade sitting lazily on the stone windowsill reading a book in the dim sunlight shining through. "You're impossible to please, Granger." Blue eyes moved back and forth steadily as she read her book and turned the page with her fingers.

"That was actually a sigh of relief." Hermione lied as she straightened up and turned her attention back to her Ancient Runes book. "I thought that maybe you wouldn't be here to bother me today."

"Please," Jade said snidely as she turned another page. "I've still been here every day, you on the other hand haven't been here in almost a week. Falling behind on your homework or something?" The brunette gritted her teeth and blared at the Ravenclaw who didn't even lift her eyes to look at her.

"I thought for sure you'd be with Fleur." The prefect spat as she looked back down at her book and tried to get some work done. "So why aren't you with her? Bored already?"

"You sure know how to hold a grudge don't you?" Jade said calmly as she closed her book and hopped off the window sill. "Forgive me I didn't want to continued meeting in secret with someone who has a boyfriend. I'm clearly in the wrong in this situation." Her blue eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the brunette. Hermione knew she was in the wrong for even thinking they could continue they late night library meetings, but it was something she never got with Ron who was always more interested with being with his friends than her.

"Jade?" At that moment a smooth voice sang through the library and the blonde hair of Fleur Delacour came into view. "Ah, there you are. Are you ready to go study? I really need 'elp with this Ancient Runes essay."

"Sure Fleur." The Ravenclaw answered softly not taking her blue eyes off of Hermione. "Let's go to the study hall." The brunette scoffed as Jade turned and walked past the blonde girl who turned her light blue eyes and nodded politely to Hermione.

"Nice to see you again 'Ermione." She smiled before turning on her heel and following Jade. The brunette tried to wipe the scowl off her face and return the smile, but she knew it probably was a pathetic attempt now that she was in a foul mood. The brunette sighed ran a hand through her curls before turning back to her book.

x-x

"Do you 'ave a 'istory with that girl?" Fleur asked as they walked the halls to they took the short walk to the study hall. "You seemed rather cross with 'er." Jade sighed and scrunched her face as they walked into the hall where a few other students had their books open writing on scrolls of parchment.

"We had…" Jade faltered over her words as she tried to think of the politically correct word for her situation. "Well, we had an encounter and she's holding a grudge because I ended it."

"She is dating that red 'eaded boy isn't she?" The blonde girl asked as they sat down at a table and pulled out their runes homework.

"Yes she is." The Ravenclaw answered as she flipped her book the current chapter and pulled out her quill and parchment. "That's why I ended it."

"Do you 'ave feelings for 'er?" Fleur's blue eyes were inquisitive and Jade smirked slightly before shaking her head.

"It was never like that." Jade answered quietly as she started writing her essay. "I was just a distraction from her relationship problems, that's all."

"That doesn't really answer my question." A sly smile spread across the French girl's lips as she turned her attention back to her homework. "Per'aps you need to re-evaluate your situation Jade, she obviously feels something for you. She got very upset when she saw me coming."

"She's holding a grudge is all." The Ravenclaw answered as she handed Fleur her notes. "I'm a charmer, that's the truth, but I don't go around seducing women. That's what she thinks." Jade was surprised when her friend started giggling uncontrollably. "What's so funny?

"I can imagine you going around and seducing women." The blonde girl put her hand over her mouth as Madame Pince came around and shushed them. "I mean I know you are a good person and would never purposely 'urt anyone, but don't you think that she's mad because she felt something?" Jade sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair. Fleur did bring up a good point that the Ravenclaw didn't really want to bring light to because the Gryffindor was still with Ron. Who was she to break up a couple?

"Why don't we just focus on a passing grade for your essay hm?" She teased as she tried to change the subject. Fleur flashed her pearly whites at the dark haired girl and Jade couldn't deny her attraction for the girl, but they both knew there were destined people they were meant for. Although if Hermione Granger wanted to think they were together, Jade wasn't going to tell her otherwise. A couple hours passed in the study hall and soon Fleur and Jade were on their way to the hall for dinner as other students passed on the same route. "Have you felt a connection with anyone here Fleur?" The stunning Veela just shook her head and smiled.

"Not besides you." Her eyes smiled as she turned to look at her lycan friend. Jade chuckled as they sat down together at the Ravenclaw table just as the rest of her friends entered.

"Hey Jade!" Cho greeted as she dropped her bag and sat down across from the girls. "Fleur, how are you guys doing today? Did you get your essay done?" Jade nodded and her blonde companion just sighed and hung her head in her hands. "Well you're not alone Fleur so don't be too discouraged."

"Thanks Cho." Fleur said solemnly as they started to gather food on their plates. "So are you guys going to the quidditch match tonight? I feel like you should since it's my first time as seeker and we're playing Gryffindor and all."

"It should be a good match." Jade said as she took a bite of her food. "Harry has years on you, but you've got natural talent."

"Well I'll be there." Cho said excitedly as she loosened her school tie and drank some of her juice. "I mean…I don't usually cheer for Slytherin, but now that you're our friend and all, I suppose we have to." Fleur smiled as Luna started talking about some sort of magical being that was clouding Jade's judgment which wasn't uncommon and the other Ravenclaws had long since accepted her odd behavior. Out of the corner of her eyes, blue eyes caught the sight of Ron and Hermione walking into the hall hand in hand with Harry in tow. A fire erupted in her chest as she tore her gaze away and began paying close attention to her plate. She wasn't going to the let the brunette affect her anymore after today. It was over with nothing to begin with in the first place. At least that's what she kept telling herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Unbelievable

It was chilly that evening while everyone was making their way to the quidditch pitch. Jade was walking slowly with her hands in her jeans pockets and Cho and Luna were at her sides chatting about something that happened in Divination class. The half lycan never really paid much attention in the class, just enough to get a passing mark and then the rest was spent day dreaming or doing homework for other subjects. Quidditch wasn't really one of Jade's favorite things to watch or participate in, it's not that she didn't enjoy the sport, but more so it wasn't enough of a challenge for her and Cho often chastised her when the topic was brought up.

"So who do you think is going to win?" Luna asked airily as they reached the stands and took their seats. "I mean, I've never cheered for Slytherin before."

"Well that's because we've never really had a reason to." Cho answered as she wrapped her cloak tight around her shoulders. The air was cold and the wind was starting to pick up which would make for a very interesting game. "We're only really here to cheer for Fleur, so I can't say who I want to win. Deep down, I still want Slytherin to lose, but I want her to do well."

"That's a very complex way of thinking." Jade said lazily as she watched the teams warm up before Madame Hooch blew her whistle to signal the line up to start the game. "If Fleur does well, then Slytherin will win. You've seen her fly Cho, I don't know if even Harry will be able to keep up with her."

"Very good point." The Asian girl said as the whistle blew and Madame Hooch threw the quaffle into the air. Ginny Weasley grabbed it immediately and started dodging through the mass of green robes towards the Slytherin goals. "She's damn good and I wish she would've been sorted into Ravenclaw, we could've used her talent since someone opted out to join the team." The blue eyed girl just smiled and shrugged her shoulders casually as her friend shot her a death glare. As they watched the game progress, Jade caught sight of a certain Gryffindor prefect and watched as she started yelling positive remarks at Ron as Draco Malfoy, who had been demoted to chaser, weaved his way down the field.

"Who knew someone as clumsy as Weasley would make a decent keeper?" Jade said lazily as the red head blocked Malfoy's shot. Gryffindor was ahead by twenty points when blue eyes saw Fleur dart across the field and Potter followed her. "Fleur must've seen the snitch!" Cho and Luna turned their eyes to their blonde friend as she started diving and weaving through other players to catch the golden sphere. The game continued on for another half hour or so with the snitch being particularly difficult to catch with the Slytherin beaters often aiming the bludgers in Harry's direction, which in turn would cause Fleur to dodge as well with him so close to her. Suddenly Harry shot forward in a burst of speed and dove after the snitch. The Gryffindor stands erupted in cheers as he reached out and tried to claim the snitch.

"Come on Fleur you're faster than he is." Jade whispered to herself as she leaned forward in her seat to watch the intense match between the two seekers. Harry almost had a grasp on the ball until Fleur shot forward with incredible speed and snatched it out of the air before his fingers could close around it. The Slytherin stands exploded with yells and clapping as Jade and Cho stood up and added their hoots of excitement to the air. The blonde Veela was flying around the pitch with her hand in the air holding the golden snitch as her teammates flew over to congratulate her.

x-x

"Oh chin up Harry," Neville said slapping his friend on the back as they made their way back to the castle. "You have to admit, Fleur is an excellent flyer. Who would've thought?"

"That's not helping Neville." Hermione said as she held Ron's hand walking up the stone path past Hagrid's hut. "You did smashing Harry. You were just having an off day that's all."

"And what about me?" Ron exclaimed and scowled. The red head was fuming with his performance in the game and how he had let Malfoy score a few times. "I can't believe I let that prat score on me." Hermione sighed and tried to calm him down, but once his temper was flared it was almost impossible for anyone to say anything Ron would hear, a Weasley trait.

"I didn't know Fleur was going to be that good at flying." Harry said to himself more than anyone else as they crossed the covered bridge. Hermione wasn't listening much to the conversation anymore as she heard laughter and cheering from behind them.

"You were brilliant Fleur!" The prefect recognized Cho Chang's voice and looked over her shoulder to see Cho, Fleur and Luna walking down the hill towards the bridge. "I had no idea you could move so swiftly on a broom! Definitely wish you were in Ravenclaw now." Hermione watched as the blonde girl laughed and thanked her friends for their praise.

"Honestly," Fleur said quietly as they reached the bridge. "I didn't think I 'ad a chance against 'arry, 'e was so fast on 'is broom I thought I was done for. Where is Jade by the way?" The blonde girl asked as she looked over her shoulder and the brunette's ears perked as she paused slightly. Ron's hand slipped out of hers and she wasn't surprised when he kept walking, grumbling quietly to herself.

"She left a little early." Luna said kindly as they got closer to the Gryffindor girl. "Said something about homework and the library. You know how she is with school work and such, weekend or not." Fleur smiled and finally her light blue eyes fell on Hermione and she nodded to her.

"'Allo 'Ermione." The Slytherin said kindly as she stopped a few feet in front of her. "'Ow are you doing?"

"Hey Fleur, Cho, Luna." Hermione greeted with a smile. "Congratulations on your victory Fleur, you surprised a lot of people with those skills. And I'm well thank you."

"Thank you 'Ermione." The blonde said blushing slightly as she ran a hand through her golden hair. "I was very nervous that my first match was against Gryffindor since I 'ear great things about 'Arry's flying and skill as a seeker."

"Are you looking for Jade Hermione?" Luna asked airily as the brunette's mouth dropped slightly. "I know you like help with Divination and we have a rather long essay due on Monday. She's in the library in case you were wondering."

"I had almost forgotten about that essay." Hermione said quietly to herself as she tapped her chin in thought. "Thanks Luna, but I wasn't wondering where Jade was. I just wanted to congratulate Fleur is all, I'll be see you all." With that she turned and walked away from the group of girls.

"So who do you think will crack first?" Fleur asked quietly as the prefect walked away. "Jade? Or 'Ermione? For being so smart, both of them are rather dense aren't they?" Cho giggled as Luna just smiled and shoved her hands in the pockets of her robe.

"We will see won't we?" The blonde Ravenclaw said gently as they reached the entrance to the castle. "It's clear to see Ron definitely isn't the one for Hermione, but I don't think she can see that, her head had a lot of Wrackspurts hovering around her head." Fleur looked at Cho with a confused expression and her friend just rolled her eyes.

x-x

**_Why am I looking for her? _**Hermione thought to herself as she made her way to the library. **_Why do I want to know where she is? This is ridiculous. _**She scowled to herself and sighed as she entered the drafty library and made her way back to her usual spot. The brunette really did intend on studying and writing her essay for Divination, but she was also hoping to find a certain blue eyed girl there as well. As she rounded the book shelf to her favorite study spot, she glanced over and saw Jade sitting languidly on the window sill, staring out into the darkness. She did say anything although she wanted to, the sight of the Ravenclaw made her heart start to beat faster even without the intense stare of her blue eyes. Hermione sighed and sat down, opening her Divination book. Their essay was supposed to be a foot long roll of parchment on palm reading, something the brunette truly despised.

"How can you tell someone's future by reading their hand?" She asked quietly to herself as she ran a hand through her waves and started flipping through her book.

"A lot of cultures in the Far East believe in palm reading and that it can accurately tell you about one's character." Jade said quietly without turning towards the prefect. "But a lot of cultures view it as a forbidden art like necromancy." Hermione looked over at Jade who was still sitting with her arms crossed and her head against the window. "Nothing better to do on a Friday night than write an essay?" The prefect had déjà vu and smirked to herself as blue eyes finally looked over at the brunette.

"I could ask you the same thing." Hermione retorted as she started to scrawl notes on her parchment. "Don't want to celebrate your girlfriend's victory?" Jade laughed and ran a hand through her as she turned and so she was facing the shorter girl.

"Why would I want to spend my night with a bunch of Slytherins?" The half lycan answered sourly as she straightened up slightly and glared at the prefect. "Why aren't you nursing your boyfriend's ego? Or is he stroking it himself with his teammates?"

"Ugh!" The brunette exclaimed as she slammed her book shut and glared wide eyed at Jade. "You're infuriating!" Jade hopped down from the window sill and walked towards her.

"Look who's talking!" She snapped angrily as she got closer. "A hard headed girl too proud and naive for her own good who jumps to conclusions! Jeez I come here to get some peace and quiet and you show up, honestly, there's no dealing with you!" Hermione stood up then to meet the blue eyed girl's stance and gaze. How dare she say she was naïve!

"You're the one who is hard headed!" The prefect hissed as her brown eyes were set ablaze with anger and she wasn't about to back down, that Gryffindor pride and all. "Why must you torment me all the time? Do you hate me so much?" Jade's eyes widened slightly as she looked down on the Gryffindor and her gaze softened slightly.

"I don't hate you Granger." The Ravenclaw said a little gently as she averted her gaze to the left. "You just get on my nerves with how you act sometimes. Being with that idiot Weasley when we both know you don't want to be. So why do you stay with him?" Hermione paused slightly and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. "You can't even tell me why, can you?" Jade sighed and ran a hand through her hair in exasperation. "How can you be so different with me? So passionate and uncontrollable, and so docile and submissive to him? You're not you when you're with him." Hermione could only look away as she tried to reason with herself as to why she couldn't give Jade an answer. Before she could think about what more to say, the Ravenclaw pushed her up against the bookshelf and pinned her hands above her head. The brunette gasped slightly as she felt the weight of Jade's body against hers and felt a rush of blood to her cheeks as she looked up tentatively into blue eyes that were looking hungrily down at her. She shuddered as she felt the half lycan's breath on her neck as Jade grazed her lips against the curve of her neck.

"You don't want me for anything, but this." Hermione said shakily as Jade pulled away slightly and looked into her brown eyes. "I'm just sport to you. Another notch on your bedpost right?"

"If you were," Jade whispered as she pressed her harder against the shelf. "Why would we be here again after I ended it? Why would you still let me if you have feelings for Weasley?" Hermione's head started to haze as she felt warm hands run down from her wrists, over her arms and sides to rest at her hips. She couldn't deny that Jade made her feel things Ron never could, but was she telling the truth when she said Hermione wasn't just another conquest? Soon all questions that were running through her head were gone as the Ravenclaw brushed her lips against her jaw slowly. Hands tangled into black tresses as lips finally found lips and Hermione welcomed them possessively. It was happening again, her loss of control as Jade wrapped her arms firmly around her waist and deepened the kiss. The dark haired girl pulled away slightly and Hermione whimpered softly at the loss of contact. "Why can't you just admit your feelings for me?" The brunette tensed slightly and looked away from blue eyes that were prying so deeply into her.

"I can't." Hermione whispered as she leaned back against the book shelf. "Ron…he's my best friend, I can't hurt him like that."

"And doing this with me isn't hurting him?" The Ravenclaw asked as she took a step back and glared at the girl. "You'd rather play along with that façade instead of admit how you feel about me?" Hurt was growing in Jade's voice as she spoke and clenched her fists at her sides as she spoke through gritted teeth. "If that's how you truly feel, then I'm sorry I even brought it up." The half lycan turned to walk away as Hermione grabbed her arm and kept her there.

"You don't understand." The prefect said quietly as she held onto Jade's wrist. "Please, I can't hurt him like that and I can't accept my feelings for you. You're not who I should want to be with! I should want to be with Ron. He's my boyfriend, my best friend and here I am snogging with you in the library." Jade stood still as Hermione spoke and she sighed as she heard the confusion in the Gryffindor's voice. "So why am I? Can you tell me?"

"If you can't figure that out on your own Hermione," Jade said quietly as she looked over her shoulder. "Then you're a lot thicker than I thought you were in the beginning. You're supposed to be the smartest witch of your age and you can't even see that the relationship you're in is a dead end or that there's someone right in front of you that could make you happy."

"How could you make me happy?" Hermione asked sourly as she looked into blue eyes. The taller girl turned to face her and scowled.

"I know you!" Blue eyes were glowing dimly as Jade's anger began to show. "I know the real you and it's not who you are when you're with that boy! He couldn't control you when you're with me so why do you accommodate yourself to him?! You give in to what _he _wants and what _he _needs! Think about yourself for once and stop catering to someone who doesn't give a damn about how you feel!" A deep growl erupted from the back of Jade's throat as she hunched over and buried her head in her hands. Her head was throbbing and a burning ignited behind her eyes as her rage began to seep into her muscles.

"Jade?" The brunette took a step forward as the girl in front of her leaned up against the shelf and groaned. From her eyes, it looked like Jade had a crippling headache and she wanted to know if she was ok.

"Get away from me." A menacing hiss came from Jade's lips as she removed her hands and Hermione saw blue eyes glowing brightly. The prefect gasped as the girl in front of her fell to her knees and another deep growl reverberated deep in her chest. "Hermione…get away!" Jade fell forward on her hands and yelled in pain as the brunette gasped and backed away against the stone wall.

**_She's shifting. _**Hermione suddenly heard footsteps approaching and soon Fleur was rounding the book shelf out of breath.

"'Ermione?" Her light blue eyes looked down and saw Jade trembling and claws were starting to replace fingernails. "Jade! 'Ermione you need to get out of 'ere." Fleur rushed forward and kneeled down in front of her friend and grabbed her shoulders.

"Fleur be careful!" The Gryffindor said anxiously as she took another step forward. She didn't know much about lycans, no one did since they were a more ancient ancestor to werewolves, but if from what she knew about the werewolves, she knew they had a temper and lacked control when they changed. "She might hurt you!"

"Don't worry 'Ermione." Fleur said gently as she looked over her shoulder. "We creatures 'ave to stick together, oui?" The blonde turned her attention back to Jade who was starting to grow white fur and the prefect flinched as she heard bones started to break and grow. "Jade, it's me. You 'ave to calm down, I know you can keep control of yourself. Don't let your anger get the best of you."

"F-Fleur?" The girl's stuttering made Hermione nervous as neon blue eyes looked up at the blonde kneeling in front of them. "I can't…keep it under control anymore."

"When did you shift last?" The Slytherin girl asked as Jade's pupils started to dilate and pained groan passed her lips. "You know when you don't shift you get anxious." Jade chuckled as another sickening snap echoed through the library and she gritted her teeth as the change took over. "'Ermione, step back." Fleur said as she stood and put herself between the brunette and Jade. Hermione was frozen in place as she watched Jade's spine elongate and white fur began to cover her body as her robes were torn to shreds. A pained cry as her face began to change and take on that of a wolf and the cry became a roar. "Celare nunc." Fleur waved her wand and Hermione could barely see the iridescent bubble that appeared around them, hiding them from anyone that passed by. "Muffliato."

"Fleur what are you doing!?" Hermione practically shrieked as Jade's transformation completed and she stood, still hunched slightly and was breathing heavily with her eyes closed as if she was trying extremely hard to focus. "She could kill us, we have to get away from her."

"No." The blonde girl answered as she walked towards the now very tall white lycan. "She needs our 'elp 'Ermione." Jade finally opened her eyes and Hermione couldn't help the gasp that escaped her mouth as bright neon blue eyes stared at them and the lycan sat back on its haunches as Fleur approached. "It's all right Jade, it's not your fault."

**How did you know I was shifting? **Hermione heard the voice, but the lycan's mouth didn't move. Were lycans telepathic?

"I felt it." Fleur said gently as she stood face to face with bright blue eyes and even standing at her full height, the blonde was still half a foot shorter than the kneeling wolf. "Well, my Veela felt it I should say. I was studying in the Great 'All with Cho and Luna when I felt this shock run through my body and I knew I 'ad to find you."

"Jade?" The brunette asked nervously and she paused as the wolf looked at her, but there was no anger, no threat in the blue eyes she stared into. It seemed there was more shame than anything, but she didn't say anything. Then it looked away.

"Forgive 'er." The blonde girl said gently as she turned and smiled kindly at Hermione. "She's never shown anyone 'er lycan form besides me, please give us a moment?" The brunette nodded as she walked past the book shelf and into the aisle way, successfully passing through the concealment charm. When she turned around, all she saw was an empty table as if no one had been there.

"Are you all right Jade?" Fleur asked once Hermione was past the barrier she had conjured. The lycan before her bared her teeth in irritation and shook her head as she closed her eyes and tried to focus completely on her human form. "Don't be so 'asty mon ami, your wolf needs air, let it breathe."

**I can't, not here Fleur. **Jade said calmly as her body heaved from the deep breath she took to calm herself. **We are in the middle of the library.**

"Ok then," The blonde said taking a seat on the ground in front of the white wolf. "Tell me, what angered you so that your wolf caught you so off guard?" Jade tensed slightly as her eyes shot open and she averted them to the ground.

**I asked Hermione to admit how she feels about me. **The Slytherin sighed and smiled kindly at her friend. She knew that Jade had feelings for the Gryffindor prefect and Hermione clearly had feelings for the Ravenclaw as well, but her pride kept her from accepting them. **She refused, she keeps insisting she has feelings for that boy when he barely even acknowledges her role as his girlfriend. I lost control.**

"I'm sorry my friend." Fleur said gently as she took Jade's giant paw in between her hands. "She needs time, she's a very loyal friend and I can't see 'er 'urting them, can you?" Jade bared her teeth and a low growl echoed in her throat.

**So she's to stay with that buffoon even though she's not happy? **The lycan's anger was growing again as she tensed and growled thinking about the brunette. **Is it really that honorable to be so proud you make yourself miserable? **

"Jade you need to calm down." Jade's friend said gently as she squeezed her paw to get her attention. "We can't 'ave you rampaging around the castle now can we?"

**I suppose not. **The half lycan sighed heavily and began to meditate again to calm her nerves. She pushed Hermione and her own feelings out of her mind as she focused solely on herself and returning to her human form. A smile crossed Fleur's lips as Jade slowly started to return to normal.

"Feeling better?" The blonde as her friend opened her dark blue eyes and took a deep breath before nodding. Fleur nodded back and with a wave of her wand the charms were dispelled and across the way from them sat Hermione Granger fiddling with the hem of her robe.

"Fleur!" The prefect gasped as she saw the blonde and Jade appear in front of her as the barrier vanished. "Jade! You're both all right?" Fleur just smiled at her as Jade stood and kept her gaze on the ground.

"Everything is fine." Fleur said kindly as they made their way into the walkway. "She just needed to calm her nerves a bit." Hermione let out a sigh a relief as the blonde passed her and headed towards the exit. Jade came and stood in front of the girl and the brunette faltered a bit as her eyes focused on her.

"I'm glad you're ok." Hermione said quietly as she turned her brown eyes to her feet. "I was really…"

"This will be the last time we will speak to one another." Jade interrupted as the prefect's breath hitched slightly and she looked into the intense gaze of the half lycan. Her eyes were shadowed with something that Hermione couldn't quite place, but her eyes were cold and unnerving. "Now that I know how you feel indefinitely, there's no reason for us to see each other outside of class again. Accept my apology for losing control." Hermione was stunned at the words of the Ravenclaw as she bowed her head slightly and then turned to leave. What was happening? She watched as the dark haired girl walked down the aisle and out of view as her mind started to scream at her to go after her. Her body wanted to move, to run after her and tell her she was wrong. That she did feel something and she wanted to be with her, but her brain rooted her to her spot as her eyes started to sting and tears began to cascade down her cheeks. Why couldn't she just admit how she felt to herself? It was one thing to tell Jade that she cared so deeply for her, but it was almost impossible to accept it herself. When a glimmer of warmth crept into her chest at the sight of Jade, the brunette would quickly smother it, brushing it off as a crush. But she knew now it was much more as she stood there in the empty library and cried silently as Jade's words echoed in her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

So this chapter was long in the making and I had to try kind of hard to put it off for so long so here it is! Hope you all enjoy it :D

Oh and don't mind any typos and what not, going through four different stories for editing is kind of a long process

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 5: Forget Me Not

It had been a week since Hermione had spoken to Jade that night in the library, a week full of conflicted feelings and a lack of sleep. Now she was walking the corridors to her Advanced DADA class quietly the next day and was in an exhausted state of mind and body. She barely had gotten any sleep the night before from tossing and turning in bed. The feelings that were running through her mind were almost crippling whenever she saw Jade throughout the day and the girl would successfully ignore her. As she reached the DADA class she saw they were with the Slytherins as well as Ravenclaws and noticed Jade sitting next to Fleur. Throughout the class Hermione kept trying to steal glances at the blue eyed girl across the room as they were learning how to effectively defeat and identify a vampire's thrall and had to have a foot long parchment on it before they could leave class.

"Hey are you even paying attention?" Ginny's voice broke through her fog as the brunette's head shot up and she looked into the pale green eyes of her friend. "You've been out of it all day. Are you feeling all right?" The red head eyed her closely as the prefect just sighed and tried to smile at her through her blankness.

"Fine, Gin." She answered quietly turning back to her book and scrawling notes. "Just a little tired is all." That was partly the truth, she had never told anyone about what had occurred with her and Jade and she didn't really want to tell Ginny since the girl wasn't too fond of Jade anyways. Brown eyes looked sideways and saw Fleur leaning over to whisper something that brought a small smile to the Ravenclaw's face. A twitch of jealousy ran through her chest as she turned her eyes away and scowled to herself. Ron and Harry were sitting behind the girls and kept pestering them for notes which was starting to irritate the wavy haired girl. The rest of the class went on like this. Hermione stealing glances at the wrong time to see Fleur and Jade whispering between themselves and Ron poking the brunette in the back to ask for help.

"Ron could you please do your own work for once!" Hermione hissed as he tapped her on the shoulder again. She heard him groan and sit back down as Snape passed through the room checking on everyone's progress. He glided over ominously to Fleur and Jade and looked down his nose at the two girls and their work.

"Miss Delacour, Miss McHale…" He said calmly as he stood up straight and walked away. "You may leave now." The girls smiled and started packing up their things as the students around them sighed and continued on with their work.

"Do you think they cheat off of each other?" Ginny whispered as she leaned towards the brunette. "I mean, I know Jade is smart, but come on. They're both done at the same time?"

"Fleur is very smart too." The brunette answered softly as Snape walked back to his desk. "Besides, if they did cheat Snape would know and wouldn't let them leave or take points or something like that." The red head nodded and continued on with her work as brown eyes watched as the dark haired girl rose and slung her bag over her shoulder and waited for her friend to follow. A moment passed between the brunette and blue eyed girl when their eyes met briefly, but Jade tore hers away quickly before anything could be read from the connection as Fleur walked ahead and the Ravenclaw followed. Hermione was exhausted, physically and emotionally, now she was frustrated because she wasn't done with her essay yet and all she wanted to do was go back to her dorm and sleep off this horrible feeling, but this was reality and she had to deal with it. As she finished her essay she sighed and waited for her friends to finish, Ron being the last of course.

"Are you sure you're all right 'Mione?" Harry asked gently as they waited outside of the classroom for the taller boy. "You've been acting…very quiet all week, are you feeling all right?"

"I'm just really tired Harry." The brunette answered as she ran her hand through her brown curls. "I've been doing a lot of studying and it must be taking its toll on me. Don't worry about it." Her friend nodded with the acceptable answer, but still eyed her carefully knowing someone was off with the girl.

"Whoo!" Ron exclaimed as he exited the classroom with his hand on his forehead. "That was rigorous, how did you guys have any trouble?" His friends shook their heads and he just sighed, slumping his shoulders. He stepped forward and put his arm over Hermione's shoulders as they started walking towards the Great Hall to get something to eat. The brunette was oblivious to what her friends were chatting about, or that Ron even had his arm around her. It had become such a boring routine of them together she started to ignore it. He never gave her butterflies like Jade did with just a look and it made the prefect's mind race.

"So what did you want to do today Hermione?" Ron asked as they sat down at the table and began piling food on his plate. "I mean, I know it's Wednesday, but I feel like I haven't seen you in a while with quidditch and you studying so much. Do you want to hang out, just us later?" Hermione was caught by surprise at the initiative her boyfriend was taking with her.

"Sure Ron," She said quietly as she looked at him and gave him a small smile. "That sounds nice." The red head smiled widely at her and nodded as he continued to eat. She glanced over to the Ravenclaw table and saw Cho and Luna chatting animatedly with Jade who was smiling brightly at them.

x-x

Jade was walking lazily in the chill of fall blew in the wind. Fleur was walking next to her as they made their way down to the lake to the spot where they spent her first few days there.

"'Ow are you feeling mon ami?" The blonde witch asked gently as they passed through the courtyard after lunch. They both had the afternoon free since Fleur had quidditch practice this morning and they were trying to keep Jade's thoughts away from a certain Gryffindor Prefect. "I know this must be 'ard since you 'ave so many classes together. A downfall of you being so intelligent." The dark haired girl chuckled and as they passed a few other students that were relaxing in the afternoon sun.

"Maybe I should dumb myself down a bit and get transferred to different classes." Jade joked as they stopped at the fountain to take in the sun before the trek down to the lake. "I don't know why it's so hard for me to ignore her."

"You care about 'er Jade." Her friend answered as she leaned back against the stone foundation of the fountain as Jade sighed and closed her eyes. "Don't think I 'aven't noticed how you look at 'er when she isn't paying attention." The half lycan sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder elegantly.

"Yeah, I guess I need something other than schoolwork to distract me." The Ravenclaw sighed as she opened her blue eyes and brought her hand up to shade them from the afternoon sun. "Should we try dating?"

"Well I'm sure you could try dating someone." Fleur said absentmindedly as she examined her nails. "I doubt many girls would turn you down and you could find a girl who would be more than 'appy to be with you. 'Suppose I could try 'arder to find someone to date…" Jade started laughing and slid down the edge of the fountain to sit down next to her friend. "What's so funny?"

"I mean us." Jade answered nonchalantly as Fleur's head snapped up and she gaped at the girl next to her. The half lycan chuckled some more at the expression on the girl's face as the blonde started to blush. "Should we try dating each other?"

"W-well…I don't know Jade." The blonde started fidgeting nervously and the blush in her cheeks started to get deeper. "We both 'ave mates that we are destined to find eventually, would it be worth us to try and date each other? I mean, it's not that I would be against it, but I would 'ate to ruin our friendship."

"You're right." Jade sighed gently as she smiled at the Slytherin girl who started to fidget with her hands. "You've thought about it though haven't you?" Fleur started to blush slightly and nodded while Jade took her hand and squeezed it gently. "So have I." The blush got deeper as Jade scooted closer to her friend and sighed heavily. "It was worth a try hm?" Fleur couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips as she elbowed her friend lightly.

"Let's just 'ead down to the lake, oui?" Fleur rolled her eyes as Jade winked at her and stood, offering her hand to the blonde who took it graciously.

x-x

"So what do you want to do 'Mione?" Ron asked as they walked across the covered bridge hand in hand. "We could go on a picnic or just go sit by the lake or something like that? I feel like I haven't really talked to you in a long time. What have you been doing?" Hermione just walked quietly next to him and shook her head.

"I don't know Ron," The girl said quietly as they reached the trail that led down to Hagrid's hut and the lake. "It's up to you, but I've just been studying a lot is all."

"You spend too much time in the library 'Mione." The red head said as they slipped his arm around her shoulders. Hermione didn't much appreciate the contact since it was mainly to show people she belonged to him more than a show of affection. "Why don't you spend more time with Harry and I?"

"Because you and Harry just talk about quidditch with Ginny." Hermione said firmly as she shot him a glare and he gave an apologetic look. "You never try and do what I like to do Ron."

"That's because you're always in the library." The boy said in an exasperated tone as they reached the landing and walked down the trail to the lake. "You know I don't like that kind of stuff. The library is boring." Hermione sighed as she thought back on how she first met Jade in the library and how much time she spent there. She wondered what the girl was doing at the moment as Ron continued his rant on how they never spent much together anymore. As they neared the lake, Hermione gasped as the tall red head pulled her behind a tree.

"What in the bloody hell Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed as she bumped up against the rough bark of the tree. "What are you thinking?" Ron wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed his hand against the tree to support himself.

"Come on Hermione," Ron whispered as Hermione pressed her hands firmly against his chest to him at bay. "I've barely seen you in weeks, let alone touch you." The brunette shuddered as he tried to put his hand on her waist and she shoved him off.

"Ugh!" She grunted in disgust as he pinned her back to the tree. "Get out of my way Ron, this isn't going to happen just because we haven't seen each other in a while. You should try actually trying to spend time with me without using your hands."

"You're my girlfriend," The red head said firmly as he snaked his hand back around her waist more determinedly this time. "Why shouldn't I be able to touch you? We haven't been alone in almost a month."

"And that's my fault?" Hermione almost yelled as her temper started to rise.

"With you always in the library, yeah!" He argued back as she pried his arm from around her waist for a second time.

"Get off me Ron!" The prefect said loudly as he tried to keep her in his arms. "You have plenty of opportunities during the day to be with me and it's your own fault if you choose to be around you quidditch friends instead! So let me go!" Hermione's temper was at its end, how dare he try and jump into something physical when he hasn't even tried to talk to her in the past couple weeks. He never made any effort to even hang out with her and now he was trying to get physical displays of affection.

"Just a kiss Hermione, blimey!" He grabbed her arms and held them down as he leaned forward again and tried to kiss her.

"Ron I said NO!" She struggled, but he was much taller and a lot stronger physically than she was. As she tried to wriggle out of his arms, Hermione closed her eyes to try and muster up as much strength as she could until she felt his lips crash sloppily into hers. This wasn't like kissing Jade. She was gentle even when she was forcing a kiss that the brunette eventually gave into and very respectful of her wishes. Ron was just being a prat and letting his hormones run the show at the moment. Hermione parted her lips slightly and bit down on his bottom lip and he yelped in pain as he pulled away and held his hand to his lip.

"Bleedin' Christ Hermione!" He yelled angrily as he narrowed his eyes and nursed his bleeding lip. "I should be allowed to kiss my own girlfriend!"

"Not when you're forcing me to kiss you, you git!" The brunette yelled back as she straightened her robes and turned to leave. She took one step and Ron had his hand around her arm forcefully.

"And where are you going?" The red head asked, his eyes blazing with anger. "I want to spend some time with you." Hermione was livid now and she was scratching at his hand trying to release its grip on her.

"Well I don't want to spend any time with you!" She tried to yank her arm, but it was useless, he had a firm grip on her and didn't look like he was about to let her go any time soon. "Just let go of my Ronald! Right now!"

"Not until we talk about this!" Ron yelled back as he pushed her back up against the tree and pinned her shoulders. He was starting to squeeze harder unconsciously and the brunette winced as the hold on her shoulders tightened as a whimper escaped her lips. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw a blur and the next thing the prefect saw was Ron being held by the collar of his shirt up against a tree opposite of her. In front of the red head stood a very angry looking Jade McHale whose eyes were glowing dimly.

"Are you deaf?" Jade asked Ron with venom dripping from her words. "Didn't you hear her say no? Are you going to be that kind of man Ronald Weasley?" The red head was trying to pry the girl's hand off of his shirt, but it was futile. Her blood was pumping now and her lycan strength was showing as she pushed him harder against the tree. Little did the Gryffindors know that not long before they arrived, Jade and Fleur had been laying leisurely on the bank of the lake enjoying the peace until Ron tried to kiss Hermione. Once she heard the brunette's yells of protest, she ran up the bank to see what was going on and was enraged at what she saw as well as heard. Hermione just stood there dumbfounded for a moment as she watched the Ravenclaw hold Ron steady.

"This is none of your bloody business McHale." The boy spat as he glared his gray blue eyes into hers. Their anger was almost matched as they continued their stare down, but Jade knew she could over power him in an instant and kept her strength at bay for the time being.

"It is when you're forcing her to do something she doesn't want." The half lycan hissed as her eyes narrowed and a low growl erupted from the back of her throat. "Don't you even care about what she wants? Some boyfriend you are trying to force yourself onto her." Without warning Ron back handed the blue eyed girl hard sending her staggering back as he straightened his tie.

"Ronald what the hell?!" Hermione yelled as she watched Jade wipe the corner of her mouth where a small smudge of blood appeared.

"Quiet Hermione!" The Weasley boy snapped as the Ravenclaw straightened up and squared her shoulders at him. "I wasn't forcing her to do anything."

"And where was your brain then?" Jade scoffed as she wiped her mouth one last time. "Obviously not here if you couldn't see you were trying to devour her face before she bit your lip you colossal idiot. If you cared about her you'd respect her wishes not try and over power her." Ron was absolutely seething now as he clenched his fists and stared the half lycan down threateningly.

"This is none of your business." He hissed again as he drew his wand and pointed it at her. "This is between Hermione and I." Jade just smirked as she readied herself to duel.

"This stopped being about you and Hermione the moment you stopped caring about what she wanted." Blue eyes stayed glued on the target in front of her as Hermione stood off the side wondering frantically what to do. This wasn't a good situation. Ron had a temper she knew, but she also knew that Jade was a force to be reckoned with, lycan or not. She was a formidable dueling opponent and now that her anger was overflowing there was no stopping her.

"You two just stop, please!" The prefect pleaded as she stepped between them with her arms spread out. To Jade's surprise she was facing her and not her boyfriend, which resulted in the half lycan relaxing slightly thinking the altercation could be avoided. "This doesn't need to happen, Ron just leave ok?"

"Why should I leave?!" Ron asked angrily as his ears started to turn red. He still had his wand raised and even though Jade had relaxed, her eyes were still glaring at the tall boy. "She should leave! We were fine until she…"

"Oh shut up Weasley!" Jade yelled getting annoyed that he thought he hadn't done anything wrong. "You try and force Hermione to kiss you, and you think _I'm_ the bad guy here? You need to get your head on straight you dick!" That broke the camel's back as he clenched his jaw and sent a curse her way, barely missing Hermione. Dark hair swirled as Jade dodged and she looked at the red head with wide eyes. "Are you stupid?! You almost hit Hermione!" Ron must've been in a rage as he disregarded what the Ravenclaw said and sent another curse her way. Hermione ducked this time and Jade lunged forward and grabbed her hand to pull her out of the path of his spells. The boy kept sending curse after curse as Jade deflected every one easily with a flick of her wrist. He must've been a lot dumber than she initially thought to put his girlfriend in danger like that.

"Why don't you fight back?" He asked angrily as he sent a weak Impedimenta curse at her and she cast a protego shield around her and Hermione who was standing behind her and off to the side. "And why is my girlfriend behind you?!"

"Maybe because you almost hexed her into next week you blithering moron!" The half lycan yelled as she lowered the shield. They were both tired, Jade more than Ron since silent and wandless magic took more effort and concentration than she thought the red head even possessed unless he was eating.

"Please stop this!" Hermione yelled as she moved back in between the two teenagers, facing Ron this time. "This isn't going to do anything, but hurt someone. So just stop ok? It's also against school rules mind you." Jade couldn't help but chuckle at the brunette who looked over her shoulder and shot the Ravenclaw a death glare.

"Just move Hermione!" Ron growled as he sent a cutting curse towards the brunette. Jade heard Hermione gasp and reacted immediately, holding out her hand and focusing hard on casting a rebounding shield on the prefect. She kept her eyes shut as she focused and felt her magic draining significantly with trying to conjure the charm.

"Ugh!" Hermione opened her eyes to see a pearlescent shield in front of her and Ron clutching his leg which was slowly bleeding onto the grass. "Damnit!" He cursed as he lowered himself into a sitting position and applied pressure to the wound. The brunette turned to look at Jade, who was on her knees, still holding her hand out to keep the spell strong, but losing a lot of energy in the process. The Gryffindor took action and made her way over to Jade and gently grabbed her hand, feeling a shock run through her palm as she touched it to Jade's. The half lycan's magic was powerful and it caused Hermione's hand to go numb in the fingertips. Blue eyes snapped open and looked at the brunette before relaxing and letting the shield fade away.

"How are you able to do that?" Hermione asked bewildered with the powerful display of magic. "Most seventh years can barely conjure that shield and that's with a wand. How can you?" The half lycan smirked as her breathing got shallow and she tried to catch her breath.

"I'm not really sure." She panted out slowly as her eyes locked onto thebrunette's. "I just…didn't want you to get hurt. Are you ok?"

"Peachy." The prefect asked gently as she knelt down next to the girl. "How are you though? You're not hurt are you?" Dark hair dances slightly in the air as the half lycan shakes her head and takes a very long, deep breath.

"Just," She takes another breath and lowers her gaze from brown eyes to green grass. "Just a bit tired, that's all. Can't say the same for Ron though." Hermione turned slightly to look at her boyfriend and saw him already healing his wound. It was far from fatal and not even very major so she wasn't too concerned with his well-being after his previous behavior. "Did he hurt you earlier?" Hermione sighed and absentmindedly rubbed her arms.

"Not really." The prefect answered quietly as she averted her gaze from Jade's piercing gaze. Hermione startled a little as Jade stood up suddenly and turned to see Ron walking towards them. "Just leave her alone Ron." The brunette said firmly as she stood in front of the half lycan.

"Hermione come on!" He exclaimed in a whiny manner. "She had no business butting in! I'm sorry I sent that curse at you, but I thought you would duck."

"Oh that's a splendid excuse." Jade huffed behind her as she crossed her arms over her chest. Ron just growled angrily and the Ravenclaw before turning his attention back to his girlfriend. "Do you slap people in the face and tell them there was a mosquito on their cheek just so you can hit them?"

"Shut your trap McHale." Ron spat angrily as he shoved his wand back into his pocket. "Can we talk about this later 'Mione? I don't really want to waste any more time around this half breed." Jade's eyes narrowed as Hermione's mouth dropped open slightly and she took a step back from the red head. She never thought Ron cared about any kind of blood status, but calling Jade a half breed was pretty much the same as Malfoy calling her a mudblood.

"No I don't think I will." Hermione replied quietly as she narrowed her eyes at the tall boy. "Go back by yourself, I don't care much to be around you right now." Ron's eyes widened as his jaw dropped while Hermione turned her back on him and started walking towards the lake.

"Hermione! Really?!" He shouted at her retreating form with a shocked look on his face. "I'm sorry about trying to kiss you and the curse! Hermione!"

"Just leave her be Weasley." Jade said quietly as she eyed him cautiously. "She doesn't want to be around you now, and honestly I don't know if she really wanted to be around you earlier, so do her a favor and show her some respect. Leave her alone." Without another word Jade turned on her heel to follow the Gryffindor as Ron exhaled a groan of frustration and began stomping back up the trail towards the castle. The half lycan sighed heavily, Fleur must've headed back towards the castle after Jade confronted Ron since the blonde was nowhere to be found and she couldn't smell her scent in the air anymore. This was going to be interesting for the Ravenclaw, she and Hermione hadn't talked in almost a week or hardly even made eye contact, but she had to make sure the brunette was ok. As she broke the tree line, she found the Gryffindor sitting on the grass on the bank of the lake with her knees pulled up to her chest. Jade exhaled heavily to steel herself before walking over to the other girl and standing quietly behind her for a moment. "Can I sit with you?" She asked gently and Hermione nodded silently as Jade sat down next to the brunette. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, really." Hermione answered softly as she stared out over the glassy surface of the lake. "Just thinking about what happened. Thank you by the way, for helping me there. I never thought he would try and do something like that."

"Me neither." The blue eyed girl replied as she found a pebble and tossed it into the water. "I always thought he was rather timid, but I guess we were both wrong hm?" Hermione just nodded, never making eye contact with the Ravenclaw.

"I thought you weren't going to talk to me?" The brunette whispered as she glanced sideways at the half lycan. Jade sighed and ran a hand through her hair before addressing the girl next to her.

"You were in distress." She answered calmly as she stretched her legs out and leaned back on her hands. "I wasn't going to let him do anything to you that you didn't want. Just because I said I wasn't going to talk to you doesn't mean I'd ignore you if you needed help."

"How do you feel about me?" The question caught the lycan girl off guard as her elbows buckled slightly and she fell backwards in the grass. Hermione giggled softly as she let go of her knees and looked down at the taller girl lying next to her. "Truthfully, I want to know how you feel."

"Well…I…" Jade began to fumble with her words as she sat up again and started to pull grass from the ground. "You know how I feel Hermione."

"No," Hermione said gently as she shook her head causing her waves to flow gently in the breeze. "No, I know how you react around me and how you touch me and make _me _feel. I want to know how I make you feel and how you feel about me in general. They're two different things." Jade sighed heavily being caught now into expressing her feelings for the brunette in words.

"I…uhm, shit." The half lycan stuttered as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I care about you, truly and well, you…uhm, you make me feel…helpless to be honest." Hermione turned and looked at her with a confused expression on her face as Jade smiled gently at her before continuing. "When you're around…you're all that I see. It doesn't matter where we are or what I'm doing, if you're there you're all I can focus on. So I feel helpless because all I can comprehend is you. When I see you, even while we haven't been talking this whole time, just a glance in the hallway and I would get this horrible pressure in my chest because I wanted so badly to talk to you or have you look at me. I know our whole, 'situation', started off with me being well…rather physical." Hermione started to blush at this comment and she cleared her throat as she turned her gaze back to the water. "But, it became more than that very quickly for me as I learned more about you, how you truly are when no one is around. That's why I got so angry when you acted so different with Weasley, like he brought out the worst in you and he thought that's who you were. It made me sick the way he looked at you like he was actually looking at you, but he wasn't. This whole time he's been looking a shell of who you really are and he didn't even notice, not once." The brunette was looking at Jade again with shock in her eyes and on her face. She'd never heard the girl speak like this before or even admit her feelings to anyone except Fleur who was her best friend. This was a whole new side of Jade that Hermione didn't even know existed outside of her sarcastic remarks and distant attitude. Could this really be who Jade was? "Can I ask you a question?" The prefect nodded, hearing Jade's voice, but not really registering it fully. "Do you have feelings for me like that?" There was a long pause that Hermione just sat there thinking and breathing. Would she be able to tell the half lycan of her feelings or was she just going to run again? She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves as she brought her knees up to hug them close to her chest once more. "Because honestly, I really might not talk to you again if I just started babbling like a lovesick idiot for no reason."

"I do." The brunette sighed softly as she averted her gaze to the ground. "This whole time we haven't been talking and avoiding each other, I've been missing you like crazy. I tried really hard to just push you out of my mind and convince myself you were with Fleur, and by the way it really does seem like you two are together." Jade chuckled softly as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear to keep the breeze from blowing it in her face. "But anyways, I can't really deny how I feel about you anymore Jade, I can't stay away from you anymore. It's like there's this force field that continually pulls me to you and I can't ignore it." Hermione's flinched slightly as she felt a warmth wrap around her shoulders and pull her against the Ravenclaw. A light blush rushed to the brunette's cheeks as she leaned her head against Jade's shoulder and sighed. All of her anxiety was washed away at the steady heart beat that was thumping steadily in her ears. This was a side of the half lycan Hermione had never experienced besides once in the library after one of the 'meetings' and it was sort of unnerving to the prefect, but at the same time very comforting.

"Did you really think that I hated you?" Jade asked gently as her hand ran slowly down from her shoulder to her waist. Her blue eyes glanced down to look into brown as looked tentatively up at her.

"Well you were acting very rude." The brunette said quietly as she started to fidget with her hands. "And I was sort of trying to forget that you existed or that I was attracted to you in general." A smirk spread across the dark haired girl's lips as Hermione shot her a glare.

"I'm sorry about the way that I've been acting." The half lycan said gently as she started to trace lazy circles over the fabric where her fingers laid. "It was infuriating to deal with us arguing all the time over Weasley and honestly it wore my nerves thin. I just wanted you to see how bad he was for you." The girls sat there for a minute in silence just staring out across the lake.

"I hate to say," Hermione said quietly. "But you were right, I guess not being around him for a while made me see how he was when we did spend time together. Although, I never thought that he would try anything like that."

"He's a teenage boy Hermione." Jade scoffed gently as she thought back on how the boy had assaulted the girl. "Hormones are running rampant and what not, but that's still no excuse for what he did or tried to do. He's lucky I didn't hex him into next month."

"I kind of wish you would have." Hermione said quietly as she adjusted her position so she was facing the blue eyed Ravenclaw. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Of course Hermione," The half lycan said as she turned her head and locked her eyes with the brunette's.

"Do you want to be with me?" She asked timidly as she glanced sideways to avoid Jade's piercing blue gaze. "I mean…like, dating?"

"Are you asking me out Hermione?" The Ravenclaw quipped as she cocked an eyebrow at the Gryffindor and grinned as the brunette started to blush prettily.

"Well…yes," Hermione answered nervously as she looked into blue eyes. "If you'd want to that is." Jade couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips as she gently grabbed the prefect's chin and tilted her head up before pressing her lips against the shorter girl's softly. She felt Hermione tense slightly before kissing back and wrapping her arms around the taller girl's neck. This was a drastic difference from the kisses that were stolen and hidden in the library in past, but Hermione could get used to this new Jade.

"Does that answer your question?" Jade asked gently as she pulled away and rested her head gently against the brunette's. Hermione just nodded, still lost in the wake of the kiss and the rush of warmth that was rising in her cheeks. "Can I break it to Weasley?" Blue eyes lit up as she teased Hermione and the prefect gently punched her arm in response.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Beginning

"What the bloody hell Ron!" Ginny yelled at her brother as they sat in the Hospital Wing and Madame Pomfrey began properly patching his wounded leg. "Why would you think that you can do that to Hermione even IF, I doubt she will be now, BUT even if she is your girlfriend you daft nimrod?!"

"Pipe down Gin," Her brother said wincing at the shrillness of her voice. Harry was standing next to her just shaking his head slowly. "It's not as bad as it sounds."

"You're fucking kidding me." The girl yelled and Pomfrey shot her a pointed glare for her language. "It sounds to me like you tried to take advantage of Hermione. Is that how it sounded to you Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry sighed heavily as his best friend glared at him. "That's what it sounds like Ron, what in the name of Merlin were you thinking? I'm surprised Hermione didn't hex you to Oblivion." Ron just grumbled and folded his arms over his chest as Ginny went on with her rant as the heavy wooden doors opened. Jade and Hermione just stared at the three Gryffindors as they walked into the infirmary holding hands and the red heads just gaped at them with their mouths open.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Ron yelled as he sat up in the hospital bed, wincing slightly as he moved his leg. Hermione's deep brown eyes narrowed as they neared and the nurse went over to greet them. "And why are you holding hands?!"

"Well Ron," Hermione started as Pomfrey left momentarily and Jade sat down on a bed. "We are here because Jade lost a lot of energy conjuring a very advanced shield to protect me from your curse!" Immediately Ginny slapped the back of Ron's head and he yelped in pain as Harry pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You left that part out Ron!" The angry red headed girl said clenching her fists. "Merlin I can't even look at you right now." She huffed and walked briskly past Hermione and out the doors without another word.

"Jeez what is her problem?" Ron asked Harry as he rubbed the back of his battered head. "And that still doesn't answer my question as to why you were holding hands!"

"Ron," Harry said quietly as he turned towards his friend. "I think it's pretty obvious, don't you? Especially after what you did today." Gray blue eyes darted back and forth between Jade and Hermione as the mediwitch brought the girl a vial full of a dark blue potion.

"Take this deary." The woman said as she handed the potion to Jade. "This should replenish your magic, but you should probably go eat right away." The Ravenclaw nodded and brought the glass container to her lips before downing the potion in one gulp. Hermione couldn't stop the smirk that spread across her lips as Jade's face scrunched and the girl shuddered. "Not the best tasting potion mind you."

"Thanks for warning me." The half lycan coughed as she wiped her mouth and Pomfrey just rolled her eyes and walked away muttering something about children. At that moment Harry walked over and began conversing with Hermione which resulted in the brunette telling her friend about what had happened down by the lake. Jade could see the anger coming to the surface as Harry closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly.

"Believe me though Harry," Hermione added quickly as he was about to turn around and head back to his wounded friend. "He got what he deserved, that cutting curse he used was powerful and somehow Jade protected me from it. So, even though he was being an insufferable prat, don't hurt him ok?"

"I won't Hermione." The bespectacled boy said firmly as he looked over his shoulder at his friend. "But I can't say anything for Ginny when she hears the rest of the story. He only told us like a quarter of it, but now that I know the rest I don't know if we'll be talking for a while." The brunette just nodded as green eyes fell on Jade and softened slightly. "Thank you for protecting my friend, it means a lot to me."

"No worries," Jade said as she waved her hand dismissively. "But let him know if he tries anything like that ever again he'll have it a lot worse than a cut on his leg." Harry nodded as he walked back over to his friend and punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Fucking Christ!" The red head yelled as he rubbed his shoulder and looked past his friend to see that Hermione was coming towards him. "Listen Hermione, I'm sorry for what happened, but really can we just…"

"No you listen Ronald." Hermione said firmly as she pointed her finger and poked him hard in the chest. "We are done, ok? I don't even know why I was with you for this long, but no more. For the next few days I don't want to so much as look at you, is that clear?" Ron's eyes widened slightly at the forcefulness of the girl and nodded dumbly as she nodded and walked away. "I'll see you at dinner Harry."

"Sure thing 'Mione." Harry smiled widely as she walked away, grabbed Jade's hand and left the hospital. "You know you deserved a lot worse, she let you off easy." The boy told his incapacitated friend. Ron just sat there dumbfounded as he watched the girls walk out the doors.

x-x

Fleur was sitting in the library by herself reading a book for her History of Magic class, thoroughly bored already since they were learning about the French Revolution this week and she already knew almost all there was to know. The blonde sighed heavily, she had left Jade to go rescue her damsel in distress earlier that day and was feeling rather defeated. Their talk at the fountain had held some relevance to the girl since she had thought about being with Jade as more than friends often. After all, how could she know if the girl was her mate? Since it was usually a touch that sparked the connection and the small touches she had received had sent electric currents running through her body. Fleur leaned back in her chair with her pen in her mouth and stared up at the cathedral ceiling of the library. The veela in her demanded retaliation for someone else moving in on the girl she was interested in, but how could she when Jade's feelings were so strong for the Gryffindor?

_They might not work you know. _The blonde scowled at her own thoughts as she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. As much as she wished she could be the one to make the Ravenclaw happy, that's all she really wanted. She wanted Jade to be happy, and if Hermione Granger did that then she wasn't going to ruin it for them. _Well aren't you a martyr?_

"I suppose I am." Fleur whispered softly, answering her own question. She had never had the veela rise so close to the surface before and she figured it must be do to the fact that she was pining for someone who was out of her reach. Veelas usually got what they wanted when it came to partners, whether they were permanent or not. Another breath as she opened her blue eyes again and looked out the window next to her. This was going to be difficult.

_You 'ad your chance today. _The veela taunted as the blonde continued to stare at the window at her own reflection. _All you 'ad to say is that you wanted to be with 'er as more than just friends, and you chickened out. _

"I don't want to lose 'er as a friend." Fleur hissed as she closed her eyes and tried the push the veela down so she couldn't hear her. "She's too important to lose and if I can't 'ave 'er as a mate then a friend is fine."

_Liar. _

"Shut up." The girl whispered to herself as she closed her eyes again. The veela was rising faster and trying hard to overpower the girl. "We are friends. I love 'er as a friend."

_Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar .__**LIAR!**_ Fleur's eyes snapped open and in the window she saw them flash purple as a sharp pain assaulted her head. Her hands flew up to hold it steady as the world around her started to spin and she squeezed her eyes shut again. She fought her inner veela back down to where she was sure she had control before opening her eyes again and taking a very deep breath to steady herself. This was starting to scare her. Never before had the veela been so prominent and now it was actually fighting her for control. She would have to write her mother about this, but for now she regained her composure and tried her hardest not to think about Jade and Hermione.

x-x

A couple weeks had passed since the lake incident and Ron and Hermione were finally back on speaking terms, regardless of how short their conversations were. The days in between had been a blur with quidditch, tests, and Christmas break now less than a month away. Jade and Fleur were still as close as they had ever been, but the Slytherin had been acting very distant when Hermione joined them for studying and it was making the Gryffindor uncomfortable to have the blonde be so silent around her when she had been so friendly. As they were all walking to the Great Hall one Friday after classes had been finished, Jade had said she needed to grab something from her dorm and she would meet them in the hall. The two girls, Gryffindor and Slytherin, walked together in an awkward silence which finally broke Hermione down.

"Fleur?" She asked quietly as they turned the corner headed to the moving staircases. The blonde's blue eyes looked down at the brunette next to her with an inquisitive look on her face. "Do you…well, uhm…do you not like me?" Shock flashed across the quarter veela's face as she sighed and shook her head slowly.

"I'm sorry 'Ermione," The taller girl said gently as they made their way down to the second floor. "It's not that I don't like you, but…well, it's just strange to get used to sharing my study buddy I guess." She tried to give the girl a friendly smiled, but she was positive it had come out more as a sad grin.

"You have feelings for her don't you?" The brunette asked boldly as they made their way down the stairs that led to the entrance to the Great Hall. Fleur tensed slightly and shook her head furiously to try and deny the accusation. "I've seen the way you look at her, before we got together that is and everyone thought you guys were together before. I'm not mad…honestly, but I just wanted to know why you had been acting so distant when I'm around."

"Forgive me," The veela said as they stopped shy of the entrance and the girl turned to face the Gryffindor. "The way I 'ave been acting is…childish, but I do care about Jade very much. Don't take this the wrong way 'Ermione, it's just that the way you acted towards 'er upset me and even though you both 'ave reconciled, I'm still protective of my friend."

"I understand Fleur." Hermione answered truthfully as she lowered her gaze under the veela's intense blue eyes. "I'd do the same for my friend, but I hope that your opinion of me can change. I care deeply for Jade and don't wish to hurt her anymore. So hopefully in the future I can prove that to you." The brunette smiled kindly at Fleur as she parted and went to sit with her friends at the Gryffindor table. The veela was surprised by the conversation and had a new respect for Hermione for wanting to prove that things were different now. Fleur sighed as she made her over the Ravenclaw table to sit with Cho and Luna. She hardly sat at her own house at all unless it was an occasion thing where the headmaster was making some sort of speech. Other than that she was with her Ravenclaw friends to escape the negativity that radiated from the Slytherin table.

"Jeez," Jade sighed as she sat down next to the blonde just as she was about to sit down. "You'd think since I have trouble with Arithmancy I would try harder to study for the tests, but no. I always forget my book or forget we have an assignment for that matter." Blue eyes glanced over at her friend who was looking rather focused on her food. "Hey Fleur, are you ok?" She put a calming hand on the blonde's shoulder and felt her tense slightly under her touch as if she had been shocked.

"Oui," Fleur answered gently as she shrugged Jade's hand off. "I was just thinking about our upcoming exams is all, trying to make sure I study for all of them." She gave a small smile to her friend who just nodded and turned to her own plate.

"As long as that's all that it is." The half lycan said gently as she started to eat. "You know that you can tell me if there was something bothering you right?" The blonde nodded and gave her friend a genuine smile which made Jade feel a little better.

"Please to don't worry about it." The Slytherin said in a lighter tone than before. "I just need to be distracted to get my mind off of school for a bit. That's all."

"Did you want to go to the lake later with Hermione and I?" Jade asked absentmindedly as Fleur tried to hide her sadness at the mention of the lake. Recently Jade had been taking the brunette down to _their _spot wanting to share it with Hermione. It made Fleur jealous to know that the dark haired girl was sharing that spot with someone other than her, but had never voiced her dislike since it seemed very selfish. She took a deep breath to steel herself and to make sure her voice wasn't going to come out with a sarcastic tone.

"No that's all right, but thank you for asking." Fleur answered kindly without looking over at her friend. "I have quidditch practice later, that should be a nice distraction."

"Are you sure you're ok?" The dark haired Ravenclaw asked again, hearing the undertones in her friend's voice. "You don't seem like yourself today."

"I'm fine mon ami." The blonde answered gently as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice. "Please, do not worry about me." Jade eyed the girl closely for a moment before nodding and turning back to her food. It was strange that Fleur was being so evasive with her when they told each other everything that was bothering them. Perhaps she was sick? Dinner went on like this, Jade conversed with Cho and Luna randomly and tried to include her friend, but she would avoid or give one word answers which was very unlike her. After she finished eating, Jade met Hermione out by the courtyard and gently slipped her hand into hers as they walked down the trail towards the lake. The weather was getting colder and the Ravenclaw wanted to take in the scenery as much as possible before it snowed.

"Hey 'Mione?" Jade asked gently as they walked down through the trees, careful not to fall on the steep slope. "Have you noticed anything…well, off about Fleur lately? I tried talking to her today at dinner and she kept giving me short answers, I'm sort of worried." Hermione interlaced her fingers with Jade's and enjoyed the heat that greeted her from the half lycan's unnaturally warm hand.

"Well we talked a bit before we got the hall for dinner." The brunette said quietly as the path transitioned from stone to gravel and the shorter girl clutched to Jade as her footing gave way on the loose rock. Jade wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's waist to steady her before grabbing onto a tree to keep her own feet planted on the ground. Brown eyes looked up shyly into cerulean orbs that were smiling gently at her. "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome." The half lycan chimed as the prefect found solid footing and stood on her own again. "Anyways, you were saying?"

"Oh right," The couple continued to walk down the path until they broke the tree line and the still surface of the lake came into view. "I was talking to her before dinner because she is quiet around me so I asked her why and well, she kind of admitted that she had feelings for you and was a little wary of my intentions."

"She said that?" Jade asked as she waved her hand and conjured her cloak into a large blanket for them to sit on. Hermione sat down first and waited for the Ravenclaw to join her before continuing.

"Well, about me, yes…" The Gryffindor sighed as she turned and looked at her girlfriend who was looking back with concern swimming in her bright blue eyes. "And she didn't really admit her feelings, but she didn't deny them either when I asked her."

"You asked her if she liked me?" There was surprise in the half lycan's voice as her eyes widened slightly and Hermione turned away, unable to look into her intense gaze any longer.

"Are you mad?" The brunette asked in a mousy voice before glancing at her girlfriend.

"Of course not." Jade sighed slightly as she ran a hand through her hair and then gently laid it on Hermione's. "Just…well shocked really. I mean, I know Fleur and I are close, but we talked about it and we figured if we ever dated it would ruin our friendship."

"You guys talked about being together?" Now it was Hermione's turn to be surprised as she whipped her head around to look at the dark haired girl. Jade just chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. "Seriously or just as a joke."

"Well it started out as a joke." The Ravenclaw admitted as looked off into the distance at the glassy surface of the water. "But I guess there was some underlying seriousness to it. Gods, if she does like me I can't imagine how she is feeling. I bet that's why she's been so vapid with me lately, do you think I should talk to her?" Hermione knew that Fleur and Jade were very close, but that didn't stop the burn of jealousy from igniting inside of her chest.

"I don't know Jade." Hermione answered honestly as she shook her head. "Would she try and take you from me?" A soft gasp escaped Jade's lips as her mouth dropped open slightly and her flicked back to her girlfriend. The brunette's question had been valid. Fleur was, after all, part veela and no matter how small that part, if she had feelings for Jade then in some way or another the blonde wanted her. "Well?" The brunette grew anxious with the half lycan's silence and it was starting to eat away at her confidence.

"Even if she did try." Jade said as she moved so she was facing the prefect who was sitting cross legged next to her. Very gently, she brushed the back of her fingers against Hermione's jaw line and turned her head so she was gazing into dark brown eyes. "It wouldn't matter, you're the one I want to be with not Fleur, at least, not in a romantic way. I just want you and I promise I will never betray you with anyone." Hermione looked deeply into blue eyes and saw the determination that told her that Jade was telling the truth. Her brown eyes closed as a heavy sigh was released and she leaned forward to brush her lips against Jade's.

"I'm sorry for being jealous." The brunette whispered as her hands came up to hold her girlfriend's face. "It's just, everything between us now is so new and now that I have you I don't want to lose you to anyone or anything. It also doesn't help that Fleur is so stunning." A smile that sent the prefect's chest a flutter spread across the half lycan's lips as she rubbed her nose against Hermione's.

"You're stunning, and after how hard I worked to get you," Blue eyes lit up as Jade teased the brunette next to her. "Don't think I'll just go off with the next girl that takes interest, even if it is Fleur." In a swift motion Jade leaned down and captured the prefect's lips gently with hers. Arms snaked around her neck as Hermione situated herself so she face the taller girl and sighed softly as she felt warm hands run up and down her sides slowly. Even though they had been very intimate before, Jade didn't want to overdo it too soon with Hermione since they were basically starting at the beginning with their new relationship. The tension between them was growing faster every time they kissed. As much as they found themselves holding back, it seemed there was an equally powerful force pushing them further with each touch that brought new sensations every time their lips would meet. This time was no different, Hermione positioned herself so she was sitting on Jade's lap and tried as hard as she could to get as close as possible while tangling her hands in black hair. The blue eyed girl tiled her head to deepen the kiss as lips parted and the Gryffindor gently bit her lower lip causing a soft moan to escape from Jade's throat. A shot of pleasure coursed through the brunette's body as the half lycan's hands pulled her closer and her tongue slipped past her parted lips to tease her own. The prefect whimpered as their tongues fought for dominance and an ache began to grow in between her legs that was starting to make her hips roll on their own. Jade's hands roamed to the hem of her shirt and slipped under the fabric to brush her fingertips against soft skin. They were getting carried away, Jade knew this, but had no desire to stop. All the time she had spent staying away from Hermione Granger and condemning her feelings had built up to a point where they were about to over flow if this continued and she wasn't sure if she wanted that to happen just yet. Jade pulled away slightly and heard her girlfriend whimper at the loss of contact which brought a smug smirk to her lips.

"I'm sorry Hermione." She whispered as she brought her hand up to cup the brunette's cheek. "It's getting so hard to resist you, but I don't want this to be like another time in the library. When we…well, you know. I want it to be special for both of us." The prefect was breathing deeply trying to catch her breath as she looked into blue eyes and smiled softly before leaning in and kissing Jade's lips gently.

"You're really a different person than I thought you were." Hermione whispered as she pressed her forehead against the other girl's gently. "It's like you're an odd mixture between how you used to be and how you are now. Still very physical and yet extremely opposite by being so open with me. You used to be such a sarcastic asshole." The half lycan feigned a hurt expression as she grabbed her chest.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed loudly as she flung herself back. "Right in the heart." The brunette scoffed and looked down at the girl who was now on her back with her eyes closed, hands still clutching at her chest.

"Well," The prefect said as she leaned forward to hover over the fallen Ravenclaw. "I guess you're still sarcastic, minus the asshole."

"Would you like me any other way?" Jade smiled with her eyes still closed as Hermione leaned down and captured her lips once more in a passionate kiss.

x-x

Fleur was sitting in the courtyard later that evening reading lazily in the waning light as the sun set. There were many others that were trying to enjoy the last bit of warmth and sunlight until winter kicked in. The blonde pulled her cloak tightly around her as a breeze blew sending a chill down her neck as she flipped a page in her book. She had seen Hermione and Jade walking down to the lake and blatantly avoided them until they were out of sight so she could sit at the fountain without any distraction. The girl was trying hard not to be bitter or jealous, but her inner veela was itching to be close to the dark haired Ravenclaw if only to be in her presence.

"You're Fleur Delacour aren't you?" Blue eyes turned to look into hazel eyes of a young Slytherin boy she didn't recognize.

"Oui," She answered lazily as she turned her gaze back to her book. "Do you need something?" The boy was fidgeting and it was starting to aggravate her since she was trying hard to focus on her book.

"I-is it true that you're part veela?" The young man stuttered as Fleur sighed and shut her book before standing up to look down on the boy. "I d-don't mean to be rude, but I was just wondering since you're so pretty and a lot of the guys have said they feel all kinds of stupid around you."

"Oui, it is true." Fleur ran a hand through her hair as she turned to leave. In the distance she saw a flash of blue eyes and dark hair and soon Jade came into view with Hermione at her side. "If that's all you were wondering I'll be leaving now." She started walking as she shoved her book back into her bag before the boy pulled out his wand and pointed it at her.

"Sorry about this." He said with a pathetically scared look on his face. "Veritatem revelare." The white light engulfed the blonde as she felt her walls cracking that kept the veela inside of her under control.

"Fleur!" Jade was calling to her from a distance and was coming closer seeing what that young Slytherin had done. "What the fuck did you do?!" Her voice was getting muffled by the rushing blood in the quarter veela's ears as she fell to her knees and grabbed her head. This wasn't good, the last time her veela came to the surface she had caused a lot of destruction at her old school and that's when she had worked so hard to stay in control at all times.

"I-I don't know!" The brunette boy stuttered as Jade advanced on him with a look that could kill in her eyes. "The spell is just supposed to bring out a person's true nature…other than that I don't know what I did!"

_It looks like I'm going to get to play. _The veela mocked as her essence rose faster and faster until it was too much to contain and Fleur released a pained choking noise as she was pushed deeper into her subconscious. Soon she was seeing through her eyes as a spectator, unable to control her own body or her voice. Her body stood slowly with her eyes closed and she took a deep breath as if she was breathing for the first time. When her eyes opened again she saw Jade grabbing the boy by the color of his robes with a look of rage on her face until she noticed the girl looking at her.

"Fleur?" Jade asked calmly as she turned to face her friend and let the Slytherin boy cower behind her. "Are you all right?"

"She isn't 'ere at the moment." The voice that left the blonde's mouth wasn't the normal gentle, light voice of Fleur Delacour that Jade had come so accustomed to. This voice was deeper, dominating and seductive. "I'm her veela, you can call me Arahnia." Jade inhaled sharply and took a step back. Hermione hadn't moved from where they had first entered the courtyard and the half lycan wanted to make sure she didn't get too close, not knowing what this veela was capable of. Everything about the woman standing before her looked like Fleur, minus the normal light blue eyes that were now glowing a deep violet and the her pale silver hue her hair had was now glowing a bright gold.

"I wasn't aware you were separate beings." The Ravenclaw said firmly as the commandeered body of her friend smirked smugly.

"Only in 'alf breeds and less." Arahnia said lazily as she examined her nails. "She's 'ad me locked away for quite a while you know, almost to the point where I 'ad given up on trying to come out anymore. That is, until she met you and something stirred inside 'er that woke me. Thanks to that boy, now I can see you with my own eyes." Her violet orbs glanced at the young boy who was hiding behind Jade with the rest of the students who had unluckily decided to be in the courtyard that evening. The blonde stopped suddenly and shut her eyes as if suddenly assaulted with a headache. "Your little flower is screaming at me. Demanding I relinquish my control back to 'er, but I 'avent even stretched my muscles yet. Why don't you let that wolf out so we can play?"

"I'm not like you." Jade answered as she steadied her stance in case the veela tried to attack. "My lycan and I are one, you should consider bonding completely with Fleur so this won't happen again." Arahnia laughed and ran a hand through her golden locks.

"Please, I can see through you." She mocked as she took a step forward. "Your lycan longs to be out and it's anxious to fight."

"I'm anxious to protect, not to fight." In her peripheral she saw the boy behind her turn and try to flee which made the predator in front of her smile as she jumped into the air and landed in front of him. In his surprise he fell back and landed on his arse.

"Do you know what you did little boy?" Arahnia was toying with him as the boy slowly shook his head, too scared to make any sudden movements. "That spell you cast released me, but why did you do it?"

"I, I th-though it would bring out Fleur's inner veela." He answered tripping over his words under the intense glare of the veela. "B-but not like this. I didn't think you'd take over completely." The blonde witch smirked as he finished speaking and brought a hand up to drag a nail along his cheek.

"You wanted 'er sexual nature." She whispered smoothly as she leaned forward to cup the boy's face which caused him to freeze at her touch. "If that's what you want then that's what you'll get." Hazel eyes lit up slightly as Arahnia leaned closer to his face and pressed her lips against his. He whimpered slightly before his eyes fluttered shut and Jade watched in a mix of horror and anger. She knew veela's were sexual and flirtatious by nature, but their kiss could suck the life out of you or magical essence if you were their prey.

"Fleur!" Jade yelled as she clenched her jaw and her eyes started to glow. No one else could see that the boy was getting weaker as the kiss continued. Without a second thought, the Ravenclaw lunged forward and pushed the veela away. The boy was in a blissful stupor as she literally tossed him aside and he landed in a heap a few feet away.

"Are you jealous Jade?" The Veela asked seductively as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Do you wish that was you? I know how Fleur feels about you, I've seen what she sees and 'ow she sees you. I've seen 'ow you look at her, so why not give in? Veelas get what they want little wolf and denying me will only make my 'unt that much more enjoyable. It would be an experience that you won't regret." A coy smile spread on Arahnia's lips as Jade scowled and the veela advanced slowly, swaying her hips back and forth. "Or do you care so strongly for that girl that you'll abandon your best friend to deal with 'er 'eartbreak all alone? Without even a kiss to remember you by?" Jade froze and her friend's body closed in on her. Hermione was standing with Ginny who she hadn't seen appear, but was grateful someone was there with her.

"Leave Hermione out of this." The half lycan hissed as her temper started to rise and the girl in front of her leaned forward before brushing her lips against her cheek.

"I won't suck the life out of you if you agree." The veela whispered as a hand wrapped around Jade's neck. "Fleur cares about you and if I did I'd never 'ear the end of it, not to mention I'm curious myself of what it would be like. It takes a very intriguing person to catch the eye of a veela Jade Mc'ale. This would purely be for pleasure." The dark haired girl tensed as warm lips brushed against her lightly and her muscles locked up. She wanted to push the veela away, but she had to admit that she and Fleur had a growing attraction that would never have closure. They both had destined mates and that kind of connection wasn't established between them, nor would it ever.

"Please," The blue eyed girl said gently as Arahnia pulled back. "Let Fleur have control, maybe I could kiss her so we could get some sort of closure, but not you. You're not my friend. Giver her back to me." Blue eyes stayed locked on violet that narrowed slightly as she stepped away with a wicked grin on her face.

"She's very angry with me for almost stealing that kiss." The golden haired woman chimed nonchalantly as she crossed her arms over her chest. Jade felt a surge of energy emanating from her and it caused her lycan to growl at the threat. "I wish you could 'ear 'er right now. She wants to be the one you kiss, not me. Isn't that selfish?" The half lycan snarled at her mocking tone as the veela laughed and turned her eyes back to Jade. "Pity really, per'aps I should just get rid of the girl that's standing in my way." Purple eyes darted in Hermione's direction as a smirk spread across her lips. "A veela always gets what it wants."

"Don't you dare touch her!" Jade growled in a low voice as her muscles flexed threateningly which only seemed to entertain the veela who chuckled and shook her head. With lightning speed the blonde lunged forward and kneed the half lycan hard in the stomach, sending her to her knees coughing. Jade struggled to get to her feet as she choked and tried hard to catch her breath. Another instant and Arahnia was there with her hand raised and talons began to take place of finger nails. Arms blocked at the last minute as the veela began an onslaught of slashes that tore at the blue eyed girl's skin. "Fleur you have to fight!" Jade yelled as she kept her arms crossed in front of her face as the blonde witch brought her leg up swiftly and even though it was blocked it still sent the Ravenclaw sliding across the ground from the force. "You're stronger than she is. I know you are!" Jade jumped away as Arahnia came plummeting through the air and punched a deep crater where the half lycan once stood.

"Stupefy!" The spell flew from Hermione's wand and hit the veela in between the shoulders which sent her flying forward before hitting the ground. Blue eyes widened as she saw turquoise and various hues of blue feathers sprouting from pale skin while large dark blue wings began to grow from Arahnia's back. The prefect had never encountered a veela before and was in awe as the blonde flapped her wings before she turned to face her.

"You want to play too?" She taunted as she spread her wings and charged at Hermione. Too shocked to move, the brunette froze and threw random hexes at the monster advancing on her which were deflected. "With you out of the way Jade will be mine!" Talons rose high as Hermione brought her arms up to protect her face, but nothing happened. When brown eyes opened again Jade was standing in front of her with her hands interlocked with the veela's talons. Blue sparks were flickering around their hands as their magic collided. Fleur's magic was intensified tenfold now that her veela had been released.

"I told you to leave her alone." Jade hissed through clenched teeth as her eyes began to glow. Arahnia smirked as she tightened her grip on the half lycan's hands and tried to overpower her. "Get away Hermione." The brunette didn't need to be told twice as she ran a safe distance away from the two powerful beings and as she watched she saw a the air surrounding them still as their power surged.

"You're very powerful." The veela hissed as she sneered at the girl in front of her. "Very impressive for a half breed, but my magic is ancient." Suddenly Jade felt as if a mountain was being dropped on her shoulders and her legs began to get weak under the crushing pressure.

"I don't want to hurt you Fleur." The Ravenclaw grunted as she tried her hardest to stand back up on her feet. "I know you can hear me, fight it! Com back, I know you're in there!" Arahnia laughed maniacally as her magic surged again and sent Jade to her knee.

"This has been very amusing." She cooed as loose gravel and rock began to float in the air around them from the gravity of their magic. "But if you're not going to change then I'm going to end this boring game." Another intense wave of pressure made Jade's head throb as her nose started to bleed and her vision blurred. She couldn't let this veela win, Fleur had to come back. The dark haired girl steeled herself and shakily stood back up, tightening her grip on the blonde's hands and giving her a surge of her own.

"I won't let you win." The wolf in her was growling, but torn to fight or try and protect her friend who was being overwhelmed by this monster. Finally she was back on her feet, nose bleeding and arms shaky, but it didn't matter. She closed her eyes and focused on her lycan and when her eyes opened again they were glowing bright neon blue as a pulse of her energy was thrown in Arahnia's direction. The veela staggered back slightly under the force of Jade's magic as the sparks began to burn their hands. "I can't fight you." The half lycan groaned as she felt the electricity course through her body. "I won't, but maybe a shock will bring you back." With a strong thrust of her arms she let go of Arahnia's hands and grabbed her head. Touching her was like grabbing a power line and immediately Jade's hands began to burn from the contact. The veela must have been affected by the lycan's magic as well as she grabbed the arms that were holding her and tried to pull them off. "Come back to me Fleur." Jade whispered before she closed her eyes and let her magic flow freely.

All Hermione could hear were Jade's pained yells mixing with the veela's as blue streaks of energy began to engulf their bodies. There wasn't anyone else in the courtyard anymore, not after the fight had begun, only Hermione remained to watch as her girlfriend fought Fleur, closest friend. Suddenly the energy stopped and the sparks dissipated as both girls fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Jade!" Hermione yelped as she ran over to her girlfriend's fallen body. The scene was disturbing, a shallow crater encircled the girls as they lay in the center and both of their hands were badly burned. "Jade are you ok? Wake up, please." She shook the dark haired girl gently until she heard her inhale sharply and start coughing. Relief washed over Hermione as she sighed heavily and let a smile grown on her lips.

"Is Fleur ok?" Jade asked in a raspy voice as she half opened her eyes to look up at the brunette who was kneeling over her. Brown eyes darted over the Fleur's body, her hair was back to its normal silvery blonde, but other than that Hermione couldn't tell if the French girl was back to normal or not. What she did know is that she was still unconscious.

"She's knocked out Jade." The brunette said gently as she scooted back while Jade tried to sit up. "Let me look at you." She began to examine the half lycan closely making sure there were no serious open wounds and whipping out her wand, tried her best to heal Jade's hands. Unexpectedly, Hermione heard footfalls coming towards them and looked over her shoulder to see Dumbledore walking briskly towards them with Madame Pomfrey and Ginny on their heels.

"Is everyone all right?" The elder wizard asked as he approached the couple as a warm white light shined over Jade's burned hands. Pomfrey scurried over to Fleur and began examining her injuries.

"She's alive Albus," The mediwitch called to the headmaster as Ginny stood back and watched. "But she's very weak, I need to get her to the hospital wing immediately." The Headmaster nodded as he walked over to the blonde and the nurse before apparating away.

"Are you two ok?" Ginny asked as she kneeled to see if her friend needed any help. "Jade's hands look pretty rough, we should get her to the hospital too 'Mione." The brunette nodded as she looked into hazy blue eyes.

"Can you stand up hun?" She asked gently as Jade flung her arm over her girlfriend's shoulders.

"I think so." Jade grunted as she struggled to get to her feat. Ginny moved to her other side and let the Ravenclaw support herself on her shoulders as well. "Thanks." The red head just smiled as they began to walk towards the heavy wooden doors of the castle.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry about such a delay on this story, kind of hit a block while working on Something to Remember and Always Yours, but anyways, the flow is back so I'll try and update more regularly.

* * *

Chapter 7: Technical Difficulties

Sun was dancing on Jade's face when she opened her eyes to find herself in the Hospital Wing. Her blue eyes looked around lazily to find Hermione on her right reading a book.

"What happened?" The half lycan said blearily as she tried to sit up and lean against the headboard. "Is Fleur ok?" She looked to her left to see her friend laying in the bed next to her still unconscious with her hands wrapped in bandages.

"You've both been asleep for a while." Hermione said quietly as she closed her book and turned her attention to her girlfriend before gently caressing her cheek. "How are you feeling?" Jade sighed and leaned into the touch before looking down at her hands that weren't bandaged, but still very raw and scalded.

"Well I guess besides the crippling exhaustion and burns," She looked at her arms and saw jagged scars that were branching out over her forearms as if following the paths of her very nerves. "And the scars…I'm all right. Are you ok 'Mione?"

"Just a little shaken." The brunette admitted as she scooted closer and began to examine the half lycan's burned hands. "I'm glad that you're finally awake, I was starting to get worried." She began to caress Jade's cheek again as leaned down and pecked her lips.

"Glad to see you're awake." Madame Pomfrey said as she made her way over to Jade's bedside and began to look her over, closely examining her hands and arms. "You're lucky that all you got were these burns Miss McHale." The Mediwitch proceeded to walk briskly behind a curtain and walked back out with a small vile of a green potion. "Make sure she takes this before she goes to bed, and she really shouldn't be alone tonight. The burn potion can sometimes cause odd side effects. I've already talked to McGonagall and made arrangements for Jade to stay with you Miss Granger, since you have a private room and all." Hermione gasped as she looked at the healer and her cheeks began to burn red as she nodded and averted her gaze to the ground.

"W-wait, is that really necessary?" Jade's stuttering made Hermione giggle quietly as she glanced at the blue eyed girl to see she was blushing furiously. "Really I'm fine and Hermione can't be bothered to look after me." Blue eyes looked back at her girlfriend to see her smiling and she sighed heavily. "I don't have a choice to I?" Madame Pomfrey shook her head and Jade groaned before falling back onto the bed.

"Don't want to sleep with me eh?" The prefect teased as she raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend who instantly sat up and shook her head.

"No, that's not it!" The half lycan squeaked as she put her hands up in defense. "It's just, well I…uhm, I know it's going to be tempting." Jade sighed as she brought her hand up to her forehead and blushed, which Hermione found quite charming as she leaned forward before kissing her girlfriend's hand.

"I know it will be." The brunette said calmly as the dark haired girl finally pulled her hand away from her face. "But you need to be monitored so that's what I'll do. I'm sure we'll be able to control ourselves." Jade sighed again and felt her heart flutter as Hermione gave her a winning smile. Suddenly the girl's head whipped around when they heard the girl in the bed next to them groaning. The half lycan immediately swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked over to Fleur's bed as place blue eyes finally fluttered open.

"Jade?" The blonde blinked furiously a few times before her sight focused on the blue eyes that were looking down at her. "What happened?"

"You transformed." Jade answered gently as she smiled warmly at her friend. Hermione walked over to stand next to her girlfriend and frowned at the confused look on the Slytherin's face. Did she remember anything? "Your Veela came out and well…we kind of had a fight."

"That's quite the understatement." Hermione interjected with a glare at the half lycan. "Fleur do you remember anything? You changed and well, uhm…well let's just say you definitely weren't acting like yourself." Fleur narrowed her eyes in thought as she brought a hand up and rubbed her forehead.

"I don't really remember." The Veela whispered as she closed her eyes and shook her head gently. "The last thing I remember is being in the courtyard reading a book…and then…" Her eyes widened as she looked up at the dark haired girl next to her. "I transformed. I 'urt you. I'm so sorry Jade! 'Ermione! I'm sorry!" Her hands covered her face as the realization of the past events hit her full in the gut.

"It's ok Fleur." Jade said gently as she sat down on the side of the bed and put an arm around her friend's shoulders. "You weren't you, I'm just happy you're alright." She smiled brightly as the blonde peaked through her bandaged fingers. Hermione twitched slightly as she felt that familiar sting of jealousy course through her chest as she watched her girlfriend comfort the Slytherin girl. She had to keep reminding herself how close Jade was with Fleur, but that never really helped the feeling go away. Soon Madame Pomfrey was bustling about and shooing Jade and Hermione out of the hospital, claiming Fleur needed her rest and she'd be there for an undetermined amount of time. So the girls made their way to Gryffindor Tower, Jade rather reluctantly, so they could get some needed rest of their own.

"Are you really that nervous about staying with me tonight?" Hermione teased as they entered the portrait into the Gryffindor common room. "I mean, if anything you're going to be the one who bites, not me." Jade rolled her eyes as the brunette teased her.

"Well, I just know it's been getting harder to resist you," Jade answered as she averted her gaze and rubbed the back of her neck. "And I mean, we've never actually…slept together before. I mean sleeping like…in the same bed or even the same room. I'm sure I'm going to be all right." Hermione gently grabbed her girlfriend's hand and led her up the stairs to her private dorm.

"I want to make sure you'll be ok." The prefect said gently as Jade closed the door behind her. "So if you want, I can conjure an extra bed or something of the sort if you don't want to sleep in bed with me."

"Believe me I want to." The half lycan smirked as she slipped her arms around the brunette's waist. "But I want to behave, so…if I try something, make sure to smack me or something." Hermione raised an eyebrow at the girl and smirked. "Nothing too harsh though!" Jade added as she raised her hands in surrender.

"Just come here will you?" Hermione said gently as she sat down on her bed. Jade obeyed and sat down next to her girlfriend before falling onto her back with a heavy sigh. The brunette did the same and rested her head on the Ravenclaw's shoulder as she lazily wrapped her arm around her waist. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired actually." A yawn escaped the blue eyed girl's lungs and the prefect smiled as she sat up and dimmed the lights.

"Why don't you get some rest?" The brunette whispered as she removed her tie and sweater. Brown eyes watched closely as Jade wiggled around so she was lying correctly on the bed before kicking her shoes off and loosening her tie. The moment she found the pillow the fatigue started to seep into her bones as Hermione crawled onto the bed and laid on her side facing the Ravenclaw. "What are you thinking about?" She asked as she saw blue eyes flit back and forth thoughtfully.

"I'm worried about what happened to Fleur." Jade answered quietly as her eyes narrowed and Hermione sighed slightly. "With her Veela, I don't understand how it happened or why, but I really hope it won't happen again."

"It was rather odd." Hermione agreed even though the frustration was growing steadily. "I didn't know a Veela could come out like that. I always was under the impression that it was a part of their being, not a separate entity."

"She said something about it being because Fleur is less than half." The lycan girl whispered as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "I just hope she can control it." Hermione had to admit that Jade had a point. If Fleur couldn't control her Veela self she could cause some real damage to others around her.

"Try not to worry about it Jade." The prefect whispered as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against her girlfriend's. "Get some sleep. You look exhausted." Jade smirked and kissed Hermione back possessively. If there was one thing the Gryffindor missed about kissing the half lycan, it was the way Jade made her feel like every kiss was relevant. Each one marking Hermione as hers and showing others, and the brunette, that she belonged to Jade without being to needy or jealous. Every touch made the prefect feel wanted and that's one thing Ron could never do. As their kiss ended slowly, Jade wrapped her arm around the brunette's waist and pulled her close as she folded her other arm under head before drifting slowly into slumber.

x-x

Fleur was lying awake in her hospital bed thinking, trying hard to remember the events that had happened earlier that afternoon to no avail. It was like her mind had been wiped clean and she was starting to get frustrated with herself. The Veela in her was dormant for now, but she could reawaken at any moment and that scared the blonde more than she thought it would. Never before had the Veela in her fought so hard to come to the surface until she started to realize her feelings for the half lycan. She sighed heavily as she thought about Jade and Hermione which made her chest ache. Fleur didn't know how much longer she was going to be kept in the hospital wing, but she was really hoping that Madame Pomfrey would come back and give her a sleeping draught. Her mind was stuck on Jade and she wasn't in the mood to feel the ache her friend gave her now.

"How are you feeling Miss Delacour?" The mediwitch asked as she appeared from her office with a tray of food. The blonde smiled warmly at her as she sat up and leaned against the posts of the bed.

"Well, 'onestly," Fleur said quietly as the elder witch set the tray on the bedside table. "I've been a lot better." She winced slightly as she pressed her hands against the mattress and her burns spread heat up into her arms. Pomfrey smiled warmly at her as she made her drink a pain killer potion and then set the food on her lap.

"Make sure you eat up deary," Pomfrey said gently as she inspected her hands gently and then swept away. Fleur sighed heavily as she looked at the soup and juice in front of her. She didn't have much of an appetite, but she raised the chicken broth to her lips regardless since she thought it was best for her to eat.

_You can't keep me locked up for long. _The French woman froze as she dropped her spoon on the tray with a clack as her muscles began to twitch. _Are you really going to let that girl 'ave Jade without a fight?_

"Silence." Fleur hissed as she grabbed her head as the throbbing started behind her eyes. "Jade isn't mine."

_She could be._ The Veela sneered as Fleur felt her anger building in her chest. _We would make a good match. She knows what it's like to be a magical creature and you know she cares for you. Why not try and win her over?_

"No!" The blonde yelled as she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth. "'Ermione is Jade's mate, not me! Stop it!" A burning ignited in her head as the world around the witch began to spin and Madame Pomfrey ran into the room just as Fleur blacked out.

x-x

The next morning, Jade shot up in a cold sweat as she woke from a bad dream. Hermione was still lying next to her slumbering and the half lycan sighed heavily as she made her way to the bathroom. She flipped the light on and leaned over the sink to examine herself in the mirror. Her eyes were a darker blue than normal that she shook off as exhaustion and she was a bit pale. Her hand found the cold water and turned it on before splashing some on her face. The bite of cold woke her slightly as she inhaled sharply as it trickled down her neck and chest. Suddenly her eyes flashed blue and Jade gasped as she stepped back before feeling a shot of pain through her chest and a burning in her head.

"Jade?" Hermione called from the bed as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes lazily. "Are you ok?" Jade composed herself and checked her eyes in mirror once more to see them back to their normal color and shut the bathroom light off.

"I'm ok, 'Mione." She answered calmly as she made her way back to the bed where her girlfriend was lying on her side. "Just needed to wash my face." Hermione eyed her curiously, giving her the 'yeah right' look and Jade chuckled. "Honestly, I'm feeling a little off."

"It could be the potion." The brunette said as she stood up and walked over to look at the dark haired girl who just smirked. "Madame Pomfrey said it could have some adverse effects. What are you feeling?"

"Weak." Jade answered as she sighed and rubbed her forehead in thought. "And…I dunno, I suddenly got this burning in my head, I think that's what woke me up." Brown eyes were filled with concern as she pressed the back of her hand to Jade's forehead and waited a few moments as the half lycan smirked at her.

"Well you don't have a fever." Hermione pulled her hand away as she examined blue eyes closely to make sure nothing was off about them. "Are you feeling better now?" Jade just nodded as she leaned forward and pressed her lips gently against the brunette's who sighed softly at the contact. The witch smiled against the kiss and leaned forward to get more as Jade's hand tangled in satin curls.

"I feel much better." The dark haired girl whispered as she pulled away and ended the moment with a peck on the lips. "Why don't we go get something to eat and then check on Fleur?" Hermione sighed at the mention of the blonde and leaned back. Blue eyes looked curiously at her girlfriend and gently placed her hand on Hermione's. "What's wrong, 'Mione?"

"Nothing." The brunette lied as she slid off the bed and stretched her arms over her head. "I guess I'm just hungry." How could she tell her girlfriend that she was jealous of Fleur? She didn't want to be and in all reality, she knew that nothing was happening between Jade and the blonde, but the altercation earlier pretty much proved that Fleur had feelings for the half lycan. Jade looked firmly at her girlfriend as she moved across her room and into the bathroom. She sighed heavily as she thought about the relationship with Hermione and realizing how Fleur felt at the same time.

"I wonder if we're going to be able to stay friends." She thought out loud as she fiddled with the comforter on the bed. "Fleur…why do things have to be so complicated now?" Another heavy sigh as she watched the brunette exit the bathroom ruffling her hair. Jade stood and moved swiftly over to the younger girl before wrapping her arms around her waist firmly.

"Jade?" Hermione whispered as she was crushed against the lycan's chest. "Are you ok?" She snaked her arms around the taller girl's neck and looked into deep azure eyes as Jade closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Hermione's.

"I just don't want things to change." Jade whispered as she hugged the shorter girl tighter. When she opened her eyes again, brown orbs were staring back swimming with worry. "The way Fleur feels, it's going to change things and I don't want it to. I don't want you to be jealous and I don't want her to drift away from me, but I don't know if we're going to be able to deal with this." Hermione suddenly felt guilty as she thought about Fleur. She knew you couldn't help you fell for and Jade was very kind and charming, not to mention the Slytherin's best friend. How were they going to deal with all of this?

"I'm sorry." The brunette sighed heavily as she relaxed in Jade's embrace. This was going to be hard for them like it was hard in the beginning. Their relationship was still fresh and Hermione didn't know if it was strong enough to withstand a major change like this. "I'm sorry that I'm jealous, but Fleur is…she's gorgeous and you two get along so well. I can see that you care deeply for her, but…" A single finger found the witch's lips as Jade silenced her girlfriend and Hermione was shocked at the seriousness in blue eyes.

"Hermione, you need to understand something." She said firmly, but gently as she cupped the brunette's face. "I do care deeply for Fleur," Brown eyes looked away, but Jade tipped her chin up so she was looking back into her eyes. "But, but only as a friend. It would never work with her and I, I care too much about you and I. Ok? You need to know that. I wouldn't leave you for her. I need you or else I wouldn't have worked so hard to get you." Hermione nodded as Jade leaned down and softly placed a kiss on her lips that seemed to reassure the witch as she got lost in it. "Do you understand 'Mione?"

"Yes." Her answer was a whisper as she reveled in the afterglow of the kiss. "I'll try not to be jealous when I'm around you guys."

"Do you mind if we go see Fleur?" The half lycan asked innocently as she kissed her girlfriend on the forehead. "If you don't want to come, you don't have to. I just want to check on her." The brunette nodded as she leaned her forehead against Jade's shoulder and sighed.

"I'll try not to get jealous."

x-x

Fleur smiled when she saw the blue eyed lycan enter the hospital doors and head her way. She couldn't really help how large her smile was, it's as if she wasn't in control of her happiness as it poured from her face as Jade approached with Hermione in tow. The blonde sat up in her bed as the half lycan beamed and wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm glad you're all right." She whispered as Fleur felt a flutter in her chest as Jade pulled away slightly and blue eyes smiled warmly at her. "How are you feeling?" Paler blue eyes caught sight of Hermione who was fidgeting slightly behind the older girl. Fleur felt it necessary to put some space between her and her friend as she sat back against the bed.

"Better than yesterday." The blonde said quietly as scratched the back of her head thoughtfully. "I still can't remember too much though which is rather upsetting. 'Ow are you two doing?" Hermione sat in a chair next to the lycan and smiled kindly at the part Veela

"Well," Hermione answered quietly as Jade smiled down at the blonde. "Although Jade's been worrying herself sick over your health." Fleur narrowed her eyes at the half lycan as she rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't say 'worried sick'," Jade grumbled as Hermione giggled and Fleur smirked at her. "I've just never used that much of my essence before without actually shifting and…well I was worried about what it could've done to you." Fleur sighed and her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the scars on her hands that ran up her forearms. Her light blue eyes eyed Jade's hands as well to see the matching marks that were a little more faded due to her healing. Jade, being slightly self-conscious, pulled her sleeves down over her forearms and sighed.

"I don't think those will fade away." The part Veela said gently as she gently grabbed the dark haired girl's hand and examined it closely. "Madame Pomfrey told me since they are magical injuries, the scars won't ever fade."

"Like Harry's scar." Hermione whispered as she tapped her chin. "Will it affect your magic ability?"

"It shouldn't." Madame Pomfrey rounded the corner with a couple bottles of purple potion. "The scars are similar to Lichtenberg figures, the marks left behind when you're struck by lightning. You might have some minor nerve damage or sensitivity in your hands and arms, but other than that you should be fine." She placed the bottles down on the bedside table and the blonde grabbed one before guzzling it down.

"Uhm…how is your, erm…the Veela?" Jade seemed uneasy asking about the other side of Fleur, but it'd be nice to know if Fleur were susceptible to falling under her control again in the future. The blonde's blue eyes darkened slightly as she looked away and sighed heavily.

"She's silent, for now." Fleur's blue eyes clouded slightly as she looked away from the girls and a heavy sigh left her body and Jade watched as her friend got weighed down by the thought.

"Don't worry about it now, ok?" The lycan said gently as she gently set her hand on Fleur's. "If it happens again, then we can worry about it." Hermione tried to ignore the intimate moment that the two girls were sharing, but it was hard as a calming smile worked its way onto the French girl's lips at the contact from Jade. This wasn't going to be easy.

x-x

It was another three days before Madame Pomfrey was comfortable with letting Fleur out of the hospital and the blonde informed Jade and the brunette that she was supposed to be taking private lessons from Dumbledore to practice Occlumency. The lessons were supposed to help her separate herself from her Veela and make her control stronger. It was nearing Halloween and the air was getting crisp and chilled as fall was taking full effect as Jade and Hermione sat by the lake on a late Wednesday afternoon. After visiting Fleur in the infirmary, Jade hadn't seen much of her best friend and was trying not to make it seem like it bothered her, but the truth was that it was eating away at her.

"How are you scars doing?" The brunette asked as she examined the gentle hand in her own. "They're fading pretty evenly."

"They tingle every now and then when I use magic." Jade answered as she gently squeezed her girlfriend's hand and moved closer to her. "Other than that, Pomfrey says that they should fade pretty well, but I kind of like them." Blue eyes trailed over the marks as she rotated her arms and Hermione sighed as she leaned up against the lycan's shoulder. "Dumbledore thinks they're channels for my magic to flow and that's why they tingle when I use it. He said there's a possibility my power could become unstable."

"That doesn't sound too promising." Hermione said as she wrapped her arms around Jade's and sighed as the dark haired girl kissed her forehead. "What are we going to do if Fleur's Veela over-powers her again? I've never seen magic like yours and hers. I could feel it just being in your proximity." Jade sighed as a chilled breeze blew her hair in her face and she brushed it behind her ear.

"I don't know 'Mione." The lycan was being honest as she watched the sun start to sink in the sky as the burn orange began to bleed into blue skies. "All we can do is hope that her training in Occlumency will help with it. I know the Veela is part of who she is, but if it can take over like that, I don't know what we can do besides fight her."

"She wants you." The brunette whispered as she held onto her girlfriend tighter as she thought about the look in Fleur's eyes when Arahnia had taken over. The Veela was a predator and it had eyes for the half lycan because of the feelings Fleur had deep down for her friend. "And I don't think she'll stop until she has you."

"I'm not Fleur's mate." Jade's tone was firm as her blue eyes narrowed and she glanced down at the brunette. "It doesn't matter if she wants me because I won't ever be with her. I lo…cough…I like you a lot Hermione and I'm not about to lose you." Hermione sighed as Jade laid back and looked deep into endless brown eyes. "I promise."

Meanwhile, Fleur was in Dumbledore's office panting with her hands on her knees, supporting herself from the strain of training. Several times the Headmaster had cast a spell on her that drew out her Veela and she fought restlessly to keep her contained which took a large toll on her physically.

"I think we should stop for the day Miss Delacour." The elder wizard said as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You need to go eat dinner and rest, we will continue tomorrow after your classes."

"Non," Fleur whispered in a raspy voice as she straightened up slightly and looked at the man with tired sky blue eyes. "I…I need to master this as soon as possible. I can't even be around my best friend without my Veela acting up! I just want things to go back to normal before that idiot cast that spell on me." Dumbledore gave the girl a small smile as he walked over and put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"If you over work yourself, she'll have a greater chance of taking over in your weakened state." He said gently as he waved his wand and a strange calm took the blonde's mind. "I've cast a containment spell for the time being, it should last for a little over twenty-four hours, so go. Eat your dinner and rest your mind, you'll need it." Fleur's head drooped in disappointment as she exhaled loudly and walked over to pick up her school bag. "Don't be so discouraged Fleur, you are making progress, even though it doesn't seem like it to you." Fleur turned and gave the man a small, sad smile before slinging her bag over her shoulder and walking out of the office. She hadn't seen Jade since she got out of the hospital and she knew it was mainly her fault. Hermione probably didn't want Jade around her and she honestly didn't want to be around the lycan girl until she knew her Veela wouldn't try and overpower her.

"Hey stranger," Jade's voice sounded extremely soothing as Fleur froze and looked over her shoulder to see bright blue eyes looking at her warmly. "Feels like I haven't seen you in ages." Fleur chuckled softly as she turned to face her friend and gasped when Jade wrapped her arms around the blonde's slim waist. The blonde squealed quietly as the lycan lifted her slightly and squeezed her tight. "How are you lessons going?" The French girl cleared her throat as she felt a blush creep into her cheeks before Jade set her gently back on the ground.

"Well, Dumbledore seems to think that I've made progress," Fleur said as they began walking towards the Great Hall for dinner. "But, I guess I don't feel like I 'ave yet. Where is 'Ermione by the way?"

"She's off studying in the library." Jade answered nonchalantly as she folded her hands behind her head and smirked at her friend. "I got all my work done so I told her I'd save her some food from dinner." Fleur nodded and hung her head slightly as she nodded and bit her lower lip in anticipation. Jade must've caught it as she looked curiously at her friend. "You ok Fleur?"

"Well, does…does she know you're with me?" The blonde in all honestly, didn't really want to know the answer in case Jade hadn't told Hermione she was going to look for her, but at the same time, she needed to know. "I mean, I can't imagine she'd be thrilled to know you're around me if I 'aven't mastered Occlumency yet."

"Don't worry about it." The lycan smiled as she wrapped her arm around the shorter girl's shoulders. "Hermione trusts me and I think we've both decided that I can hold my own against you, hm?" The grin that spread on the blonde's lips reassured both of them that they could get past their fight and be friends again. "You know you're my best friend, right?" The two paused in front of the Great Hall and Fleur pulled away slightly so she was facing the bright blue eyes of her lycan friend, that's when she noticed the scars on her friend's hands travelling up her forearms. For some reason, she was overcome with a strong wave of emotion while her eyes began to sting and she looked at Jade whose eyes were flooding with concern. "Fleur, what's…" Jade gasped slightly as the blonde flung herself at the dark haired girl and firmly wrapped her arms around her neck. Tears were streaming down the blonde's cheeks as she buried her face in the crook of Jade's neck and sobbed silently. Jade relaxed before gently rubbing her friend's back soothingly.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered as Jade chuckled and hugged the French girl tighter. "I've messed everything up."

"You can't help what you feel, Fleur." Jade's voice was calming and quiet as she spoke into the Veela's ear. "We can be friends again and things will go back to the way they used to be." Blonde hair shined under the dim light as Fleur shook her head against Jade's shoulder.

"It can't, Jade, you don't get it." Fleur pulled away and looked up at the lycan with sad eyes as she sniffed and wiped some tears away. "I've liked you since we first met. Even if it does go back to the way it was…it will stay the same." Jade sighed heavily as she closed her eyes and her head fell forward against Fleur's gently.

"You'll always be special to me." She whispered as she opened her eyes again to try and convey the seriousness to the Slytherin. "You're really the first person I've ever opened up to and you understand how it is to be…well half human, but I love Hermione. I haven't really told her that, but, I just know." There was an awkward silence as Fleur just nodded and Jade felt a little guilty, but deep down she knew Fleur had to understand that if she wanted Jade in her life, it had to be as friends.

"I know, and the last thing I want is to 'urt you or 'er." Fleur straightened up slightly and sighed before looking at Jade with sad eyes. "But I'll never know if you were the one that got away, what if you're my destined one? 'Ow will I know if we never try?" Again, the French woman sighed and made a bold decision. "Kiss me, just once. That's 'ow I'll know." Jade tensed as she took a half step away from the Veela with wide eyes and she swallowed hard.

"I can't," The lycan whispered as she shook her head slowly and scowled. "I'm with Hermione, Fleur. I can't hurt her like that and she will be hurt, no matter how innocent it may seem, even if you are just trying to figure out if I'm your mate. It would break her trust in me." She exhaled through her nose and looked at her friend who was staring at the ground. "I'm sorry, I just can't, not unless Hermione knows and agrees to it. So that's something you'll have to talk to her about."

"What an awkward conversation that will be." A heavy sigh escaped as Jade placed her hands on her friend's shoulders and gave her a gentle shake.

"Try not to worry about it." Jade said gently with a small smile as she pushed Fleur towards the Great Hall. "If you're serious about it, just talk to Hermione, but maybe not any time soon, ok?"


	8. Chapter 8

So this chapter is a little shorter than I would've liked, but I found I can't keep trying to fill a certain quota of pages or I'll literally drive myself mad, so here's chapter eight and I hope you all enjoy. Thanks for all the favorites, reviews and follows! And again, ignore any typos I always reread my chapters once they're posted so they will be resolved eventually by my beta or myself :D

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Chapter 8: Miss the Misery

Hermione was sitting in the library at dinner time studying for her Divination exam the next day with Ron, who was surprisingly adept in the subject which set her teeth on edge. The red head had offered his help since he knew it was her worst subject and normally she would've asked Jade, but knew she had to eat so she sent her girlfriend to dinner.

"How's the paper coming Hermione?" Ron asked gently, this was the first time they had really spent more than an hour in each other's presence since they had broken up and it surprisingly wasn't so bad, as long as Ron didn't talk too much.

"Well, it's going." She answered with a sigh and set her quill down to massage her temples. "I still don't see how people can think that Soothsayers exist." Ron just chuckled as she stretched back and folded his hands behind his head. They had been studying and taking notes for a little over and hour and a half, and he was starting to get tired.

"Why don't we call it a night?" He said with a yawn as he closed his book and picked up his shoulder bag. "Have you even eaten?" The brunette shook her head as she ran her hands through her hair before putting her things away.

"Jade said she would save me something from dinner." Hermione answered with an exhausted tone in her voice. "Other than that, no."

"Why don't we head over," The red head suggested as he stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "There's still a half hour before the House Elves start cleaning up, we can still get some grub." Hermione nodded as she stood and followed Ron out of the library and down the Great Hall. "So, you and Jade are doing well then?" The boy asked awkwardly as he tried to make conversation on their way down to dinner.

"We are," The brunette answered as she smiled just thinking of the Ravenclaw. "She's like a completely different person now that we're together and it's been great so far."

"Well, that's good to hear, 'Mione." It had been a while since Hermione and Ron had actually talked about the altercation that had occurred a little over a month ago, but the brunette could still tell that Ron was a little awkward in her presence and a little more agreeable when they hung out. "Erm, y'know…Hermione I've been…well, I've been meaning to apologize to you about what happened. I never really properly apologized." Hermione sighed as they walked towards the Great Hall and ran a hand through her wavy hair. She had been dreading this moment, mainly for the fact she didn't want to recall the events that had happened and the uncomfortable conversation this would be. Apologies from Ron were always awkward.

"Ron, please, don't worry about it." Hermione sighed heavily as they turned the corner and heard the faint chatting of students in the halls. "It was a while ago now and I've gotten over it, so you should too." As they entered the hall, Hermione immediately started searching for Jade and found her at the Ravenclaw table, as always, but she froze slightly when she saw Fleur sitting next to her, smiling that dazzling, perfect smile.

"They look cozy, don't they?" Ron asked as he eyed the two girls and Hermione followed him to the Gryffindor table. A stab of jealousy burned her chest as she turned her gaze away and kept reminding herself that Jade and Fleur were best friends and she couldn't blame her girlfriend for wanting to spend time with the blonde. "Aren't you going to say anything to her?"

"They're best friends, Ron." The brunette retorted as she sat down and began putting food on her plate. "I can't be angry that Jade wants to be around her, they haven't seen each other in almost a week since Fleur has been training with Dumbledore and that was her choice. She didn't want to risk her Veela coming out again by just being around Jade." Ron snorted as he bit into a roll and glared at the dark haired girl across the hall. "You deserve better." Hermione shot a glare at her friend who cowered slightly and began stuffing his face.

"Hey, 'Mione." Jade greeted as she sat down next to the brunette and pecked her on the cheek. "Weasley." Ron glared daggers at the Ravenclaw who scowled back before turning her attention back to her girlfriend. "How did the studying go?" Hermione tried to fight down her jealousy and urge to be cold to the Ravenclaw as she smiled.

"Oh, you know how I hate Divination." The Gryffindor sighed as she moved closer to her girlfriend and rested her head against Jade's shoulder. "How is Fleur doing?"

"As well as you can be with another being living inside of you I suppose." The Ravenclaw sighed as she chanced a glance over at Fleur before shaking her head. "She's pretty discouraged, but her training with Dumbledore seems to be helping."

"That's good." The brunette smiled kindly at her girlfriend before leaning her head against Jade's shoulder. "I hope it gets better for her, I know how close you two are." Jade wrapped her arm around Hermione's shoulders and held her close as she pecked her on the forehead. The meal went on as normal, Ron speaking of quidditch once Harry had joined them and Hermione listening randomly as Jade rubbed her back.

x-x

A week passed with Jade and Hermione spending less time together since the Gryffindor was taking on extra classes and the school was abuzz with Halloween coming up. Jade sighed as she sat in the study hall with Luna working on an essay for DADA. Clear blue eyes were glanced up at her fellow Ravenclaw to see the raven haired girl's brow furrowed and eyes narrowed.

"Is everything all right, Jade?" Luna asked airily as she abandoned her work to look curiously at the elder girl. "You look a little, inattentive." Bright azure eyes widened slightly as Jade looked up at Luna and let out a sigh before shaking her head.

"Sorry, Luna." She said calmly as she ran a hand through her long hair. "I guess my mind has been flighty lately."

"Is it because you haven't been seeing Hermione or Fleur lately?" Jade's eyes widened a bit more at her friend's attentiveness as a small smirk spread on her lips. "I can tell, you get rather distant when you haven't seen Hermione."

"You sure have an eye for detail." The raven haired girl said as she closed her DADA book and sighed. "You're correct, Fleur has been busy with her sessions with Dumbledore and Hermione…well, Hermione is Hermione. You know how she gets when she studies." The blonde nodded as Jade sighed again and stuffed her things in her bag before bidding the fellow Ravenclaw goodbye. She turned out of the study hall and headed down to the Great Hall to try and find Hermione.

"Hey, Jade!" Ginny Weasley called as she made her way down the last stair case. The blue eyed Ravenclaw smiled and then examined the girl to notice her she was bundled up to fight the weather outside. "Are you coming to the game? It's against Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw."

"Oh, I'm sorry Ginny," Jade said calmly as she shook her head. "I forgot there was a game today, sure I'll come down with you, is Hermione coming?" Red hair bobbed as the girl nodded her head as they both headed out the doors towards the pitch.

"She's probably down there right now with Harry and Ron," The youngest Weasley added as a biting cold wind whipped past them as Jade wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and shuddered slightly. The lycan wondered silently if Fleur would be allowed to play, but it seemed Ginny was wondering the same thing. "Do you think Fleur will be at the game?"

"I'm not sure." A hand ran through raven locks as Jade tried to keep her hair out of her face as the got closer to the quidditch pitch where the crowd could be heard talking loudly and cheering their chants for the teams. "I don't really know how she's been doing, we try not to talk about it much. Maybe Dumbledore will let her if she's been progressing." Blue eyes looked around as they neared the pitch and saw a blonde boy in Gryffindor colors leaning against the bleachers next to Hermione who was looking rather uncomfortable. "Who is that?" Ginny looked over and groaned.

"That's Cormac McLaggen." Ginny answered as they neared and Jade's eyes narrowed as he watched the blonde move closer to her girlfriend. "He's got a thing for Hermione and lately hasn't been hiding it too well. He's our back up keeper and a chaser." Jade was going to let Hermione handle this herself until she saw Cormac reach forward and brush a finger along the brunette's jawline, which Hermione quickly slapped away. The lycan growled deeply as she stalked towards the boy and grabbed him by the collar before pushing him up against the wooden wall.

"Woah!" Cormac exclaimed as he raised his hands and his pale eyes widened at the glowing blue orbs he was staring into. "What the hell?!"

"Who do you think you are?" Jade hissed as she narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. "She obviously didn't want your attention." Hermione was standing off to the side with her arms folded over her chest.

"What makes you think she wants yours?" The chaser retorted as he narrowed his blue eyes and scowled. "I think if she didn't want me around she'd tell me."

"I did tell you, Cormac." Hermione said firmly as she rolled her eyes and quirked an eyebrow. "I told you multiple times! And Jade is my girlfriend." This made Jade even angrier as she snarled and the boy cowered even more.

"If I see you touch her again," The blue eyed Ravenclaw threatened as she inched a little closer and tightened her grip on his shirt. "I will break all of your fingers one by one, do I make myself clear?" Cormac nodded as Ginny walked over and put a hand on the taller girl's shoulder.

"Try not to kill him before the season is over, yeah?" She quipped with a smile as Jade backed off and Ginny pulled the blonde with her. "Come on, lover boy." A heavy sigh escaped Jade's lungs as she turned towards the brunette who was rubbing her arm.

"Thanks for that," Her girlfriend said quietly as she moved closer to the Ravenclaw and sighed. "He doesn't seem to be able to take a hint." Jade just groaned before wrapping her arms around Hermione's waist and pulling her close.

"Hopefully he got the idea from that." The lycan growled as she shot another glance in the direction that Ginny and Cormac disappeared too. Suddenly there was a whistle blown in the distance and Jade's ears perked in that direction. "Come on, we should probably go grab a seat." Hermione nodded as Jade gently grabbed the brunette's hand and walked up the wooden steps and into the stands on the Ravenclaw side where students were shouting and roaring as the teams lined up. They sat down right when Madame Hooch blew the whistle and threw the quaffle into the air. That's when Jade's blue eyes saw a flash of blonde as Fleur flew up above the pitch to get a good view. "I didn't actually think that Fleur would be playing today."

"You think she'll be ok?" Hermione asked as she glanced over at her girlfriend whose eyes were narrowed as blue kept darting back and forth keeping a keen watch on Fleur. "I mean, it shouldn't affect her playing, right?"

"I don't know." The crowds suddenly erupted with cheering when a chaser named Bradley scored a goal past the Slytherin keeper and before they knew it the Blaise Zabini had the quaffle in his possession and was heading towards Ron. "I would think she'd be all right, let's hope she'll be." At the last minute, Blaise passed the ball Graham Montague who faked Ron out and the oddly shaped ball flew through the ring. Suddenly, Jade watched as Fleur shot across the pitch and began weaving through the air. "I think she's seen the snitch." Fleur was dodging bludgers and soon Cho Chang was on her tail. The two girls were neck and neck as the snitch flew up high and then dropped quickly and changed directions. A few more goals were scored on the pitch, but Jade wasn't paying attention as she watched her friend dart back and forth over the other players.

x-x

_"You've already been keeping me from seeing my best friend." Fleur said as she sat in Dumbledore's office after a rather rigorous training session. "You can't keep me from playing quidditch, 'Eadmaster. Please, I need something to take my mind off of all of this…failure." She had been training with Dumbledore for almost a full month, and even though she had made a little progress at keeping the Veela in her suppressed to an extent, nothing really groundbreaking had happened besides Arahnia's voice had been quieted. The Headmaster sighed as he stroked his beard and sat back in his chair._

_ "I can't stop you from playing." He said finally in a very calm tone that didn't match the firm look in his blue eyes. "But please, Miss Delacour, you must understand the seriousness of situation if you were to lose control during your match."_

_ "I can control myself."_

Fleur was zig-zagging back and forth, battling with Cho to gain headway on one another enough to grab the snitch out of the air. So far, she had been pretty confident keeping herself under control and not getting overly excited or letting her mind lose track of the threat that was constantly haunting her. The winged golden orb suddenly switched direction and Fleur pulled her broom up fast to chase it as Cho kept flying past her. This was her chance, she shot forward, never taking her eyes off the glinting ball as it flitted around erratically and she reached out before her fingers closed around the snitch. Her adrenaline spiked the instant she heard the crowd erupt into cheers and applause as she slowed her brook to a hover as she raised the snitch into the air. As her teammates crowded around her to congratulate her, a fire ignited behind her icy blue eyes and she squeezed them shut as the world began to spin.

"You all right, Fleur?" Blaise asked with concern in his voice. She didn't have the coherence or strength to answer as she lost her balance and fell off her broom. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem except that she was more than twenty feet in the air and she couldn't think long enough to pull out her wand and right herself. There were several gasps, she at least heard that as she plummeted to the ground and she tried to remember her training in quidditch to just go limp to lessen the seriousness of any injuries. Suddenly, the wind stopped whipping past her ears as she fell into something solid that definitely wasn't the ground. She finally managed to open her heavily lidded eyes to see bright glowing cerulean staring back at her.

"I've never seen a French girl be so clumsy." Jade quipped as she cradled the blonde in her arms carefully while Madame Hooch and Snape were heading towards the girls. "What were you thinking playing in the match today?"

"I'm not a child, Jade." Fleur argued as she tried to squirm her way out of her friend's hold to find that the lycan had her trapped and she didn't have the strength to break free. For some reason, her body wasn't responding the way she wanted it to and she felt her head start to get fuzzy. She groaned before bringing a hand to her head to try and steady the pounding in her skull. "Besides, we won didn't we? I don't think Malfoy could've taken my place."

"Off to the hospital wing, then?" The smooth voice said gently as Fleur's eyes squeezed shut and she hissed through her teeth. Bright blue eyes narrowed as she watched her friend's pained expressions and a pang of worry resonated in Jade's chest before they walked past Snape and Hooch, letting them know where she was going. When Fleur had fallen, Jade was the one who jumped down onto the pitch and sprinted to the middle of the field to catch her. This is what she was worried about, something had happened to make Fleur lose balance on her broom since Jade knew for a fact the talent her friend had at flying. It wasn't like the French girl to just lose her handling for no reason.

"'Ow did you get to me so quickly?" Fleur asked quietly as she tried to open her eyes again to see a smirk spread on her friend's lips. "I didn't even know you were at the game."

"Well it was my house against yours." The raven haired teen said playfully as she glanced down at the blonde in her arms. "I mean, the fact that we were playing Slytherin was a coincidence and lucky for you, I have lycan speed and was able to catch you before you hit the bloody frozen ground."

"My hero," The Veela whispered in a teasing manner as a small smile spread on her lips before she rested her head against Jade's chest as fatigue began to work its way into her body. "I've missed you." She felt Jade's chuckle more than heard it.

"I saw you just last week." The Ravenclaw said as she looked down at the girl and passed through the archway leading out of the pitch. Granted, Jade had seen her friend the week before, but the days between their meetings had been scarce since the Veela wasn't completely under control.

"Don't patronize me, Jade." A sudden rush of annoyance filled the blonde's voice as she glared up at her friend. "You know damn well that we 'aven't been seeing much of one another and we used to spend every day together. I miss us, our friendship. I miss what we 'ad." Jade's eyes dimmed slightly as she sighed heavily and tightened her hold on her friend.

"Fleur," Jade's voice was firm, yet gentle as she stopped walking for a moment and looked down at the blonde girl in her arms. "You know I miss you, you know that I wish that I could go back in time and prevent that boy from doing what he did to you, but I can't dwell on it. It's disheartening to think we can't be near one another because your Veela blood 'wants' me."

"And what if it's me that wants you?" Fleur said quietly as she looked up and into Jade's widened blue eyes. She felt the lycan's muscles tense under her back and legs as the Ravenclaw's eyes narrowed again, more so in confusion than anything else. "What if I want you?" The older girl began walking again as a particularly cold gust of wind blew and Fleur instinctively moved closer to Jade's higher than normal lycan body temperature as ink black hair swirled around her. They worked in silence for a bit until the castle came into view and Jade's eyes kept staring forward as they reached the covered bridge.

"You know I care about you, Fleur." A smooth voice said quietly after the wind died down from being under the shelter of the bridge. "But, you're my best friend. I don't want to lose that and I'm with Hermione, you know I love her." Fleur's icy blue eyes rolled slightly as she snuggled closer to the taller girl's chest and sighed.

"Yes, you've mentioned that." The girls finally reached the castle as Jade backed against the door and opened them slowly before sighing. "I just don't want to miss out on something we could've 'ad together when we both know there is something there, Jade." Fleur's composure was starting to return as her vision began to clear and the world around her came back into focus. "Just one kiss, Jade. One, and if nothing happens then we'll leave it at that. You can let me down by the way, I think I can walk from 'ere." Jade complied as she slowly lowered her friend to the ground as they reached the stairwell leading up to the infirmary. "Where is 'Ermione? Does she not care that you're alone with me?"

"Of course she was worried about you." The lycan answered as they started up the stairs and Jade shook her head. "But it's not like she can jump down a fifteen foot drop and not injure herself. I'm sure she's gone back to her common room by now or she's on her way." Another awkward silence as they reached a landing and Jade suddenly stopped, running a hand through her disheveled, windswept hair. "What makes you so sure that I could be your mate anyways, Fleur?"

"The way I felt when you would 'eld my 'and." The blonde answered as she stopped a few steps ahead of Jade. She didn't turn around when she answered, but Jade could see the rigidity in her posture as her hands clenched into fists. "The spark I feel when you look at me and the agony in my 'eart when you're away. That's 'ow I can be so sure." Jade held her breath as Fleur spoke and her muscles tensed when the Veela turned around with determination in her sky blue eyes. "'Ow can you be so sure with 'Ermione?"

"Don't bring Hermione into this." Jade scowled as she looked away and rubbed her forehead. This seemed to make Fleur even more agitated as she huffed and walked down the stairs that separated them. "This is between you and I."

"She 'as everything to do with this!" Fleur cried as she stopped when she was toe to toe with the lycan. "She is what is keeping me from being with you and finding out if I'm missing out on being with my soul mate!" Blue eyes flashed violet for a split second as Jade grabbed the Slytherin by the shoulders and gently pushed her up against the wall.

"You have to calm down!" She growled to the blonde who was glaring at her and breathing heavy. "Fleur, I don't want anything to happen after all this training you've been going through and I sure as hell don't want to have to fight that Veela again." A shock spread through Jade's hands and she winced as the scars on her hands and arms began to feel like they were vibrating. Fleur must've felt it as well as she glanced down at her hands and her gaze softened slightly. "You know I love you as a friend, why can't that be enough for you?"

"Because I love you," The Veela whispered finally as her sad, angry eyes met bright blue. "And not as a friend." Before the lycan knew what was 'appening, Fleur had grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her down. Their lips crashed together forcefully as Jade froze, her mind grinding to a halt at the feel of Fleur's mouth on hers and she wanted to push her away, but she couldn't. Something was stopping her and it made the Ravenclaw panic as she began to kiss back, her eyes fluttering shut. Suddenly her lycan raged inside of her as her adrenaline soared, bring her a knew feeling of pleasure at the feel of the blonde's lips moving against hers smoothly like silk. Fleur's hands grasped Jade's face as her lips parted and the taller girl heard a sigh echo in the stairwell. That's when her senses returned and she tore her mouth away and backed up against the wall opposite of the one the Veela was pinned against. She was panting trying to catch her breath after the backlash of the kiss and the blonde's head was drooped with her breathing equally erratic as she leaned against the stone wall.

"Why?" The taller girl asked in between breaths as she looked at her friend. "Why can't you let this go, Fleur?! This can't happen, I'm with Hermione!" Fleur didn't answer as she lifted her head and let it fall back against the wall before releasing a long, slow breath. "Fleur!" Jade was angry, and more so confused. That kiss shouldn't have happened, but she definitely shouldn't have enjoyed it or kissed back. This was a disaster. When Fleur finally opened her eyes, Jade gasped when deep violet stared back instead of the light blue they should've been. "Fleur? Your eyes…"

"I'm still 'ere, Jade." The Veela whispered as she straightened up and smoothed out her shirt. "It's still me, but I…I don't know what happened. She's not, I can't hear her anymore."

"You must've merged." Jade was confused as she took a cautious step forward trying to get a better look at her friend. "Is…that a good thing?"

"Well," The blonde murmured as she brought her hand to her chin in thought. "I don't want to kill 'Ermione to steal you away if that's what you mean, but something is definitely different. My magic feels, almost tangible now." Fleur looked down at her hands and Jade's eyes widened slightly as she saw a faint golden glow coursing through the scars on her hands.

"Fascinating." The Ravenclaw was truly intrigued by the change in the Veela, but she was still wary in case Arahnia showed herself again. She reached out and gently took Fleur's hand in hers and immediately pulled away after receiving a strong jolt that left her palm feeling numb. When blue eyes looked down at her own hands, she saw a blue shimmer pulsing in her own scars. "What is this?"


	9. Chapter 9

So everyone, this story will indefinitely stay Hermione/Jade, but like I've mentioned, it will ALSO be a love triangle, so there will be parts where Jade is with Fleur in a semi-romantic way. Don't hate me for it, it just follows the plot that will eventually lead to a twist in the story. So here is chapter 9! Hope you all enjoy it :D As always, thanks for all the favorites/reviews/follows! Keep them coming :)

* * *

Chapter 9: Bonded

Jade and Fleur were currently sitting in the infirmary as Madame Pomfrey, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Flitwik were all standing around them before the doors creaked open and Hermione walked in.

"Are you all right, Jade?" A set of blue and a set of violet eyes looked over at the brunette as she made her way to her girlfriend. "I was worried when Cho said she hadn't seen you in the common room." Jade looked away, with a very confused and angry look on her face as Hermione reached her and the brunette noticed that Fleur had the same expression. "What's going on? Fleur your eyes…"

"That's what we'd are trying to find out, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said gently as he stood next to the bushy haired teen. "It seems that Miss McHale and Miss Delacour are in a bit of a literal bind."

"What do you mean?" Hermione looked over at her girlfriend who still wasn't making eye contact. "Jade, what does he mean?" The lycan sighed heavily before she looked over at the Gryffindor and rolled up her sleeves to show her the soft blue glow in the marks on her arms. "When did they start glowing?"

"After I kissed 'er." Jade winced, that was definitely not the way that she had wanted to tell the younger witch about the kiss and she silently cursed Fleur's brazenness. "I seemed to 'ave merged with my Veela as well, I 'aven't 'eard 'er since then. That's why my eyes are a different color, 'Ermione." Hermione was still in shock at hearing that the blonde witch had kissed **_her _**girlfriend and felt her body beginning to shake from anger. Wide brown eyes looked over at the raven haired girl next to her, waiting for Jade to confirm or deny the statement. Fleur shoved the sleeve of her quidditch robe up and Hermione gasped slightly to see the gold glow in the Veela's scars as well.

"Hermione," The Ravenclaw whispered as she reached over and tried to grab her girlfriend's hand before it was, expectantly, ripped out of her reach. "Please, let me explain."

"It seems pretty obvious, doesn't it?" The brunette murmured through gritted teeth before glaring at the older girl, trying hard to mask the hurt that was bubbling up in her throat and threatened to steal her voice. "She kissed you…did you kiss back?" Jade averted her gaze from the brunette, too guilty to look into her eyes and Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she received her silent answer.

"Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said gently as she put a hand on her star pupil's shoulder to try and calm her down before she ran like a startled fawn. "Please, at least listen to what we have figured out so far."

"When Fleur and I fought," The Ravenclaw started quietly as her voice shook lightly. "Both of our magics collided and tried to over-take the other, that's the theory behind how we got these scars. This evening when Fleur…kissed me, I think that it sparked the bond with her Veela. I think our magic merged with the other and because of that, I think I became susceptible to her thrall. Now that she's one with her Veela, I can tell that something is different and after the kiss, I can almost feel it now. When I'm near her, even before the kiss, my hands tingle like I got electrocuted."

"And when Jade is around me," Fleur added suddenly as she looked at Hermione with a hint of shame in her violet eyes. "I can't seem to control myself. It's almost as if I need 'er to function and I know 'ow cliché that sounds, but it's true. Now that my Veela blood as bonded with me fully, Arahnia's want is now mine and I couldn't really control my urges in the 'allway."

"Hermione," Jade said gently as she, again, tried to reach for the younger witch's hand who didn't pull away this time, but let her hand lie limp in Jade's. "Please, you know I would never do this normally. I…care so deeply for you and I'd never want to hurt you. When she kissed me," Hermione scowled and tried to pull her hand away, but the lycan had a firm grasp. "I couldn't stop myself from kissing back. I wanted to, believe me that I did, but something was pulling me to her."

"I don't want to hear this right now." Hermione whispered as she felt hot tears stinging her eyes and she yanked her hand out of Jade's hastily before turning towards the exit. "I can't." Jade promptly stood and went after her girlfriend, leaving the professors and Fleur behind.

"Hermione, please!" The lycan called as she grabbed the shorter girl's shoulder to try and halt her movement, but Hermione shrugged her off coldly before whipping around to face the older lycan.

"You knew how worried I was about her!" She yelled quietly as the tears finally broke through the dam and spilled down her cheeks. "How self-conscious I was! And then you go and kiss her!" Jade opened her mouth to argue, but Hermione raised her hand and shook her head furiously. " No, Jade! This isn't ok no matter what the circumstance! You could have fought her off or turned away or something…"

"I pushed her away!" Jade was suddenly angry as she thought back to the kiss and remembered how she little control she had over her body, whether it was Fleur's thrall or from mere shock. "I denied her several times, but she…she grabbed me and pulled me to her and I…I didn't want it, Hermione. You know how I feel about you." A very large, very heavy blanket of despair fell over the lycan as her shoulders slumped and her body suddenly felt exhausted. "Please, believe me 'Mione, I would never hurt you like this."

"But you did." The younger witch's voice was barely a whisper as she closed her eyes and another cascade of tears fell from her eyes. "You did hurt me, Jade. I guess we were just another fling, right?" Jade's breath hitched as her chest tightened and she felt her hands go numb when Hermione's words reached her ears and hung heavy in the air between them. After confessing how she truly felt about the brunette a while ago, it still hadn't been enough to convince her that Jade's intentions were noble. "Until you moved on to the next girl?"

"No," Black hair swished as Jade closed her eyes, willing her tears to ebb as the ache in her heart grew to her entire body. "No, Hermione…that's not how it is at all with you. I love you." But it was too late, Hermione was already jogging down the hall away from the Ravenclaw as she stood there, dumbstruck and in shock. She didn't hear the footsteps of Dumbledore and McGongall behind her, nor did she hear the gentle words the Headmaster offered as condolences do to the rush of blood in her ears and the echoing of the Gryffindor's harsh words. Tears were slowing flowing down Jade's cheeks and her eyes stared at the spot where her girlfriend once stood. The pain in her chest crept up her neck and down her torso as she felt her hands and forearms tingling. She looked down, numbly staring at the glowing in her scars as they got brighter and a pain shot through her chest like someone had stabbed her with a very large knife. Jade doubled over and cried out in pain, clutching at her chest as the glow got brighter and the pain intensified into her hands. The last thing she remembered was seeing blue sparks igniting in the air around her before her world went black. Meanwhile, back in the infirmary, Fleur's chest was burning and her scars were tingling wildly out of the blue as Madame Pomfrey tried desperately to figure out the reason behind the sudden outburst of pain in the Veela.

x-x

It had been two weeks since Hermione had spoken to Jade and she had to admit, she was missing her terribly. The worst of the situation being, that she hadn't seen the Ravenclaw since their argument in the corridors, which of course, had her wondering if Jade was all right. She and Harry were sitting the library studying for Transfiguration when Cho Chang walked in with another Ravenclaw girl Hermione didn't recognize and the Gryffindor fought back the urge to ask Cho how Jade was doing.

"You all right, 'Mione?" Harry asked quietly as he put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, she jumped slightly and spun around to look into concerned green eyes. "You've been eyeing Cho since she got in here, you feeling ok?"

"Yes, Harry, I'm fine." The brunette answered with a sigh as she shook her head and turned her gaze back to the book and parchment in front of her. "Just a little distracted I guess."

"With Jade?" Even though Harry had never been too perceptive, he could read Hermione like a large print copy of Hogwarts, a History, and after she had told him all about what had happened between her and the older girl, it had been pretty evident what she was thinking about when her mind would wander. "I haven't seen her for two weeks now, not since Slytherin's match against Ravenclaw, are you worried about her at all?"

"Why should I be?" Hermione growled as she tried to keep up her cold demeanor towards the lycan even though she was dying to know if the girl was all right. "She's done enough to hurt me I think, probably staying out of my sight for her own safety." Harry couldn't stop his laugh and was promptly 'shushed' by Madame Pince as she walked by and he shrugged an apology.

"You are rather scary when you're mad, Hermione." He whispered as he began to write the introduction to his essay. "But still, you have to be a little worried, I've seen Fleur around so you know they're not together." The wavy haired girl snorted as she rolled her eyes at the thought of Fleur, which instantly reignited her animosity towards the Veela.

"Jade's probably too tired after shagging Fleur to show up to class is all." Brown eyes narrowed slightly as she felt a pang of jealousy imagining Jade with Fleur. "Doesn't concern me either way, Harry." The green eyed boy sighed heavily as he shook his head. He knew that Hermione was indeed worried about her ex no matter how much she denied it, but he knew better than to call her out on it until she had calmed down about it a bit more. So instead, he stayed silent, working on his homework with his friend who would, occasionally shoot a glance at Cho and then sigh forlornly. After they left the library in the early evening, the Gryffindors parted ways as Hermione went outside to try and get some fresh air. As she turned down the corridor towards the courtyard that sat in the middle of the school, she heard shouting, two female shouting to be specific.

"You can't avoid me for the rest of your life, Jade Mc'Ale!" Hermione peeked around a stone column to see Fleur standing in front of Jade who looked worse for wear. Her face was thinner and she was rather pale than Hermione remembered her, but she chalked it up to the lack of sunlight lately. "You 'aven't been eating and you're not coming to class! You're going to fail if you keep this up! Honestly, you're acting like a child." Hermione watched as Jade's eyes flashed dangerously at the blonde girl in front of her as she straightened up slightly and scowled.

"**_I'm_** acting like a child?!" Jade shouted as she clenched her hands into fists. "Ever since I blacked out two weeks ago I have hardly had the strength to do anything! Those pains you were feeling in the infirmary? Those were mine except lessened, I'm sure by now you've noticed that these marks have connected us somehow, that's where the burning came from when I had left you were feeling **_my _**pain! I can't eat, Fleur! I can't sleep and I'm not…I'm not strong enough to stay out the whole day on my feet anymore. Look at me!" Jade swept her arms out wide, motioning for the Veela to take her imagine in. "You think I want to be like this?! You think I enjoy having this constant ache?! I would gladly give it to someone else if it would free me from this catatonic state." Suddenly, Hermione gasped as she saw Jade's eyes fade slightly before the older girl faltered and fell to her knees. Fleur reacted swiftly and caught the lycan by her shoulders to try and steady her. So she had been right at thinking Jade was unwell, this was proof now and she was seeing it with her own eyes.

"You'll be all right without 'er, you know?" Fleur whispered as she helped her friend stand back up and held her firm as Jade tried hard to catch her breath. "It's not the end of the world." Jade shot the Veela a glare before pushing the blonde away and growling deeply.

"Do I look 'all right' without her Fleur?" The lycan asked quietly through gritted teeth as she clenched her fists and brown eyes caught the hint of blue ignite in the air around her hands. "Don't try and belittle me by saying I'll be ok when you bloody well know that I'm not." The sparks were getting brighter as Jade's eyes began to glow and Fleur gasped before grabbing her friend around the shoulders. It seemed as though Jade's anger was fueling her magic as it sparked wildly in the air.

"Don't Jade!" She cried as the lycan tried to pry the Slytherin's hands off of her body. "We 'aven't learned 'ow to control this magic properly yet!" Jade wasn't listening as tears began to flow down her cheeks and the blue bolts began to radiate around her body. It seemed like the elements themselves were matching Jade's anger as the clouds in the sky grew darker. "Please, mon ami, I'm sorry, for everything!" The wind was staring to blow harder in the courtyard as Hermione watched with wide eyes at what was unfurling in front of her and another pang of jealousy shot threw her body as she watched Fleur wrap her arms around Jade's neck and hold her tightly. "Calm down, Jade, you have to. I will help you through this, I swear." Jade's hands unclenched as the wind died down and the sparks began to dissipate in the air as blue eyes dimmed to show them brimming with tears before the lycan wrapped her arms around Fleur's waist. "I promise you, I'll be here, always." The Ravenclaw buried her face against the Veela's neck as she cried and the Gryffindor, still out of sight, leaned her back against the stone pillar, crying silently for her lycan. Hermione waited until Fleur and Jade had left before she stepped out from her hiding spot and dried her eyes.

"She's a mess without you, y'know." The brunette jumped slightly when Luna Lovegood appeared behind her with a sad smile on her face. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean to startle you." The Gryffindor wiped her eyes hastily and shook her head, trying hard to give the younger girl a smile.

"That's ok, Luna." Hermione whispered, sadness still lingering in her voice as Luna tilted her head and looked at the brunette. "I was…sort of distracted anyways."

"Jade misses you very much." The dreamy eyed blonde said gently as she put a hand on Hermione's shoulder and motioned for her to follow. They walked out into the courtyard where the fall breeze was blowing gently and sat down on a bench. "As you can see, she hasn't been doing very well. She hardly leaves the common room anymore except to go to her sessions with Dumbledore and Flitwik. You should talk to her."

"Do you even know what she did, Luna?" Hermione was slightly irritated by the Ravenclaw's interference and tried really hard not to let it show in her voice. "She cheated on me, I had been so worried about Fleur to begin with and then this happens."

"It seems to me that she didn't have much of a choice." The Gryffindor whipped her head around to look at Luna, her mouth open and eyes wide.

"How could she not have a choice?!" The brunette exclaimed her anger rising up into her throat. "All she had to do is control herself!"

"Have you ever felt a Veela's thrall, Hermione?" Luna's blue eyes were still calm and for some reason made the Gryffindor calm as she looked into them. The Ravenclaw had always been attuned to other's emotions whether she meant to or not and Hermione often forgot how intuitive the younger girl could be. "You're very bright, surely you've read books on Veela? I've read a few myself, but they all say the same about thrall, that once you're under it, you can't really control your feelings or reactions." Hermione had indeed read a couple books that the library had on Veela, but she had never really taken them seriously since it seemed like a bunch of mythology. "I know Jade kissed Fleur back, but maybe you should at least give her the chance to explain herself?"

"I don't know if I can forgive her." Hermione mumbled as she looked away and down at her shoes that were digging in the grass. "But I hate to see her how she is right now." Luna gave her friend a small smile before rubbing her back gently.

"Just think about it."

x-x

The next evening, Jade slammed hard against the stone wall as the breath was pushed out of her lungs and her hand shot to the stone to keep her steady. Fleur was across from her and Dumbledore and Flitwik were off in the distance. They were in a small courtyard that the Headmaster had conjured specifically for their training sessions since Jade's magic seemed to careen out of control every now and then. Blue eyes were drooping from exhaustion as Jade looked at her blonde friend whose purple eyes were glowing dimly as she raised her wand and cast a silent spell at her. The lycan pushed herself up in time to extend her hand and watched her scars glow before catching the light in her hand and redirecting it.

"I…need a break." Jade huffed as she slumped back against the wall. Her lungs were burning for oxygen and her muscles were weak as she slid down to the ground. As she hit the ground she winced as it wracked her bones and sent a shock wave through her body. Fleur frowned as she jogged over and knelt down in front of her friend. "I don't…I don't think I can do this today, Fleur." The Veela sighed as she took Jade's hands between her face and made the lycan look into her deep, violet eyes. Jade looked back with exasperation before she sighed and Fleur leaned forward and pressed her lips against the lycan's forehead.

"You need to eat, mon ami." Fleur whispered as she drew back and ran a hand through Jade's ink black hair, savoring in the satin feel between her fingers. "Come, let's go get dinner."

"I'm not hungry." The Ravenclaw argued as she shook her head slightly and averted her gaze to the ground. "I'm just going to go get some sleep." Jade slowly and shakily got up from the ground, with Fleur and the wall's help, before hissing in pain as her muscles fervently protested the movement. Fleur was saying something to the Headmaster and Charm's Professor, but Jade wasn't listening as her vision blurred a bit and she shook her head to chase it away. She began making her way out of the makeshift training area and towards the castle with Fleur next to her in case she needed assistance. Jade hadn't meant for her health to deteriorate so much, but after her argument with Hermione, she didn't really notice when she stopped eating a lot or sleeping less. All she could register was the pain that resonated in her chest every minute of every day.

"Come on, Jade." The Veela whispered as they reached the covered bridge and a cool breeze blew, chilling the lycan as they walked. "You 'ave to eat something, anything really. Look at yourself." Fleur made a motion with her hand at Jade's poor constitution before the lycan chuckled and violet eyes looked at her friend curiously. "What is so funny?"

"You sound like my mother." Jade muttered with a small smile as she glanced over at her blonde friend. "What, are you going to coddle me and make sure I eat my veggies?" Fleur gave her a stern look.

"I just might." Fleur threatened with narrowed purple eyes as they reached the castle and the students inside were bustling trying to get to the meal. "Don't tempt me, Jade." Blue eyes rolled as Jade chuckled as they made their way into the Great Hall and to the Ravenclaw table. Jade glanced over to see Hermione and her friends, laughing about something and her heart dropped to see her ex so happy when she was so miserable. Hermione's eyes shot up at the last minute to see Jade's head turn back to Fleur as they walked to empty spot at the table next to Luna and Cho. "Don't worry about 'er, Jade. Come on, let's get some food in you." Dinner was long in Jade's opinion as her friends talked about random things and she would occasionally try and eat the meat that was on her plate. She'd had maybe four bites of her shepherd's pie and a full glass of pumpkin juice, but after that, her stomach told her she'd had enough. "You didn't eat much." Fleur whispered as she leaned over and put her hand on the lycan's knee.

"I'm going to get going, Fleur." Jade stood suddenly and that was a mistake as the Great Hall began to spin. The lycan hissed as she grabbed her head and fell back against the wall as Fleur sprang up to tend to her friend.

"Jade!" The Veela was by her friend's side in a blink and took Jade's face in between her hands. Blue eyes fluttered open and stared back at Fleur before shutting them again with a soft groan. "I'll help you." A strong arm swiftly wrapped around Jade's waist and pulled her against Fleur's body as the blonde swung the lycan's arm over her shoulders. There were a few students, not to mention Professor Flitwik, who were standing, staring at the two girls as they made their way out of the Great Hall, Hermione's eyes included. Suddenly, Dumbledore was in front of the two girls.

"Take her to the Hospital Wing, Miss Delacour." The blonde nodded as she hustled past the Headmaster and into the corridors towards the infirmary. Jade had the strength at least to walk up the stairs and into the Hospital Wing, where Madame Pomfrey was tending to a poor Hufflepuff who had taken too many Puking Pastilles. Fleur helped Jade over to a bed where the raven haired girl laid down with a groan.

"Back again?" Madame Pomfrey said in an exasperated tone as she walked over and examined the Ravenclaw. "Still not eating are you?" Jade just grunted in response as the mediwitch sighed before disappearing into her office as Fleur took a seat next to the bed the lycan was lying in. "I swear Miss McHale, if you don't start taking better care of yourself you're going to get sent home." Blue eyes rolled slightly as she looked over at her friend who was giving her a very stern look. There was the sound of some glasses clanking and stirring as the witch began brewing Jade a potion.

"You're that distraught over 'er?" Fleur murmured as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the lycan. Jade just sighed before adjusting so she was sitting with her back against the head of the bed. "She had that much control over you that with her not being around she's crippling you?" Blue eyes narrowed as Jade looked down at her hands and shook her head.

"You don't understand." Jade's voice was raspy as she ran a hand through her hair. "Fleur, I love Hermione, and she didn't even let me explain what happened." The Veela sighed as she rolled her eyes and moved so she was sitting on the bed's edge, facing the older girl.

"Jade," The blonde sighed heavily as she gently took her friends hand in her own. "Please, don't dwell on this, it will get better. I'm still here for you, but you need to start taking care of yourself or I **_will _**start forcing food down your throat, is that clear?" Jade stared wide eyed at her friend's violet eyes as Fleur got closer and brought a porcelain hand up to gently cup Jade's cheek. "Do you understand?" A heavy sigh escaped from Jade's lips as the girl nodded and put her hand on Fleur's gently. The blonde leaned forward slowly and pressed her lips softly against Jade's in a lingering, feather soft kiss. Jade tensed slightly and was surprised to realize she didn't feel the same as their last kiss. This kiss was gentle, not demanding or forceful and Jade found herself enjoying it as her eyes fluttered shut. The affection remained innocent, neither girl deepening or disconnecting their lips.

"Ahem." The girls shot apart as Madame Pomfrey stood at the foot of Jade's bed, an eye brow raised at them and her lips pursed together. "If you don't mind, I'll give Miss McHale her potion now and you two can be on your way." The mediwitch walked over and handed the Ravenclaw a green potion before huffing. She walked away mumbling something about teenagers leaving Jade and Fleur alone once again as the two girls looked at each other.

"I care about you, Jade." Fleur whispered as Jade drank the potion and made a face of revulsion before setting the empty vial back down on the bedside table.

"I know, Fleur." The lycan breathed as she swung her legs over the bed, invigorated by the potion that Pomfrey gave her and stretched her muscles, glad that for once they didn't ache when she moved. "And you know I care about you and I'm grateful for you. I really am." Jade gave the Veela a charming, heartfelt smile before offering her hand the blonde and hoisting her up. "Now, let's go back down and see if I can get some food from the kitchen. I'm suddenly starving."

x-x

The next day saw Jade looking and feeling healthier as she swung her legs over her four poster and stretching languidly as the sun shone through the sheet of grey clouds in the sky outside. November was proving to be very difficult as it brought in frigid winds and scarce sunlight, but for some reason, Jade was feeling better, it must've been the potion. After she had showered and brushed her teeth, the lycan made her way down to the Great Hall and saw Hermione making her way towards the hall for breakfast. She thought about saying something until Ron and Harry came running past her towards the brunette.

"Sorry we're late, 'Mione." Harry apologized as he rubbed the back of his head nervously and added a goofy grin. "Ron couldn't find his shoes this morning." The red head's face turned beet red as he looked down at the ground and Hermione just shook her head. Jade continued to walk past them as she glanced down at Hermione who looked up timidly. Ron shot her a death glare as she passed when he noticed her blue eyes trained on the wavy haired girl.

"Morning, Weasel." Jade greeted sarcastically as she passed and was pleased when she heard the Weasley growl in anger while Harry held him back. She was more than content walking in and having breakfast with her housemates on this lovely Saturday morning, but apparently Hermione had other ideas.

"You two go ahead." She said calmly as Jade felt a hand on her wrist. "I'll catch up with you in a moment."

"But Hermione…" Ron argued, but if anyone should've known better than to argue with Hermione, it should've been Ron.

"Just go," Hermione's tone a bit more urgent and hushed as the lycan heard Harry mutter and concede before the two Gryffindors walked past the lycan with skeptical looks. "Jade, could you wait for a second?" The Ravenclaw was beside herself trying to decide whether or not she should stay and talk to her ex or make up an excuse to avoid whatever conversation was headed her way. Regardless, Jade didn't try and tear her arm out of Hermione's grasp and turned around to see the brunette frowning at her.

"What is it?" Jade questioned in a colder voice than she had thought she was capable at the moment. "I'm rather hungry….so if you don't mind…"

"Just come with me." The brunette groaned as she turned and dragged Jade off in the opposite direction from where they were headed. They turned a few corners and went up to the third floor before Hermione finally saw fit to pull Jade inside an empty classroom.

"What the hell, Hermione?" The lycan hissed as the younger girl finally released her and her knees crashed hard into a desk. Her blue eyes were irritated as she looked at the back of the brunette who was standing in front of her, facing the front of the abandoned room.

"Explain it to me." Hermione said firmly, still facing the classroom and her voice echoed off the empty stone walls. Jade's brow furrowed in confusion as she rubbed her knee and leaned back against the desk.

"What?" The Gryffindor spun, causing her curls to twirl through the air and Jade tensed when she saw the sheer determination in the brunette's eyes.

"Explain it to me, the kiss." The girl repeated as she took a step closer to Ravenclaw who continued to look at her with an expression of confusion and now shock mixed with it. "You said that Fleur must've been using her thrall, whether aware of it or not, and I've never felt a Veela's thrall. So tell me what it felt like." Jade ran a hand through her hair and looked away before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Why?" Jade pushed as she stood up and took a step towards Hermione. "What is this going to solve? I told you what happened. Fleur kissed me and my mind was clear, I knew I shouldn't have kissed her back, but my body wasn't responding, like it couldn't. It was just doing what Fleur wanted. That's all I can tell you and I'm sorry if you were expecting some heartfelt confession of how I had buried feelings of love for Fleur and I wanted to kiss back, but I don't and I didn't. I do love Fleur, but I'm not in love with her."

"Did you enjoy it?" Hermione pressed as she turned back towards the front of the room as she felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She had asked Jade a question and the older girl had answered, but still, it didn't mean the answer wouldn't sting.

"It's like you're asking me to hurt you." A groan echoed in the room as Jade folded her arms over her chest and shook her head. "Physically, yes, I enjoyed it." Hermione's heart dropped as the words left the lycan's lips and she had the overwhelming urge to run out of the room and away from Jade. "But mentally, no, because I knew it would hurt you and it has. And I'm sorry. That's something I had hoped I'd never do." The lycan had a strong urge to pull the brunette into a hug when she heard the girl sniffle, but she held back, afraid that the brunette might hex her to Oblivion

"I miss you." The brunette choked down a sob as she felt a tear burn down her cheek. "I want you back and I hate myself for being so weak to you you, but some part of me keeps telling me I should forgive you and my brain tells me I shouldn't!" Hermione turned and stalked towards the raven haired girl and Jade tensed before taking a few steps back in fear of the brunette's wake. "Why do you have to be so hard to forget? Every time I look at you I get angry and at the same time I want to be as close to you as possible…what did you do to me?"

"Must be my winning personality." Jade quipped as she smirked and closed her eyes, waiting for Hermione to yell or hex her, or something other than what she did. She heard the Gryffindor scoff and release a cry of frustration before arms wrapped around Jade's neck. Blue eyes shot open just in time to see Hermione's face moving forcefully towards hers and her body tensed in anticipation. Lips crashed together roughly as the shorter witch's hands tangled in black silk and nails dug into Jade's scalp, causing a gasp to ring into the air. This was the roughest kiss they had shared and still being a bit apprehensive about the brunette, the lycan let her take the lead as teeth sank into Jade's bottom lip. Hermione was being possessive, dominant, and Jade was enjoying it as her arms finally jumped to attention, snaking themselves around her lion's lithe waist and pulling their bodies flush against the other. Breasts pressed comfortably against breasts as the Gryffindor whimpered when Jade's hands moved up under the shorter girl's shirt to touch bare skin. Hermione was on fire and the lycan was eager to ignite her further as she pushed her tongue into the other girl's mouth. "Is this what you want?" Jade whispered huskily, pulling away just enough so she wasn't looking cross-eyed at the brunette.

"I wish this was the last thing I wanted." Hermione was panting as she pulled Jade back by the collar of her shirt before hopping up to sit on a desk and smothering her lips again. The blue eyed lycan placed her hands on the brunette's hips as she positioned herself between Hermione's legs that bound around the taller girl's waist, trapping her there. Hands were working fervently at Jade's button up shirt as lips were caressing and nipping at the skin on the lycan's neck. Blue eyes began to glow dimly as Jade caught her reflection in the dingy window and tried hard to suppress her growing amount of adrenaline, but having Hermione Granger nipping and sucking on your neck was rather distracting as a breathy moan escaped the lycan's lips. Soon Jade's shirt was undone and Hermione's hands were roaming freely with reckless abandon as the Ravenclaw worked the brunette's jumper up and over her head. Her eyes were met with Hermione only being in a very tight, white cami and she watched as goose bumps immediately began forming on her skin. After Jade's shirt had been left open and the brunette's thickest layer removed, the girls were back at fighting for dominance over the other, Jade holding back most of her zeal to let Hermione have control. She knew the other girl needed this. Hermione needed to feel like she was in control to be able to kiss Jade the way she was kissing her. The brunette wanted to lay claim to the lycan and Jade was very willing to let her as the brunette held tight to the collar of her shirt. "I want you to be mine." Hermione hissed as she bit and sucked on the skin under Jade's ear. "Only mine, I'm not going to lose you to her." Jade's mind was too fuzzy to form words as her body began to vibrate with pleasure and she felt the tingling radiating in her hands and forearms.

"You won't." Jade whispered huskily as lifted Hermione's shirt up to expose her stomach and ran her hands smoothly over the soft skin. The brunette moaned as rolled her hips forward and sank her teeth roughly into Jade's shoulder, eliciting a pained growl mixed with immense pleasure. Jade smirked to herself as Hermione marked her multiple times along her shoulder and collarbone. "I'm yours, always." That's all the Gryffindor needed to hear as she pulled back and crashed their lips together, forcing her tongue between the lycan's lips and losing herself in the unbridled passion. Hermione's jealousy was fueling her need to show Jade that she was hers and no one else's, but now it was the Ravenclaw's turn to show Hermione that she belonged to the lycan as the brunette was pushed back against the desk. Jade wasted no time tearing the younger girl's shirt off and lavishing her breasts and stomach. Sharp gasps escaped the younger witch's throat as Jade's teeth nipped against Hermione's hips and stomach before her lips brushed up between the valley of her breasts and pressing her hips firmly in between her lion's legs. Deft hands moved between them and swiftly undid the brunette's jeans as Hermione squirmed underneath her.

"Not here," The Gryffindor gasped as she felt Jade's hand roam down her stomach, leaving tingling trails of electricity burning her skin. Hermione sat up and wrapped her arms around the taller lycan's neck, absentmindedly rolling her hips into Jade's, causing a low groan to vibrate against Hermione's neck. "Your room." Jade nodded as she wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist and held her tight before the image of her room appeared clearly in her mind. Her scars began to glow brighter as Jade kissed Hermione possessively and then, apparated away with a soft crack. Hermione gasped when she opened her eyes and saw the blue and bronze colors of Jade's dorm. Her eyes blinked a few times as Jade let her down to her feet and then fell back slightly onto her bed, her head between her hands. "How did you do that?" The brunette gasped as she stood, staring wide eyed at the lycan whose scars were glowing bright and Jade squeezed her eyes shut as they got brighter. "Jade!"

It seemed the more the marks glowed, the worse pain her lover was in and soon the room was filled with light as a pained scream erupted from the lycan's lungs. Hermione gasped when she saw a stream of blood flow from Jade's nose and ears as the brunette leaned forward, grabbing the raven haired girl by her shoulders. The Ravenclaw's skin shocked the younger witch's hands as they made contact and Hermione jumped back, her hands tingling from the touch. The light receded suddenly before a large shockwave from the lycan and Hermione brought her arms in front of her eyes to shield them from the blinding blue light. Jade's cries rang in the brunette's ears as the light began to slowly recede, and when Hermione removed her arms she saw her lycan collapsed on her bed, her scars glow pulsing while getting dimmer.

Meanwhile, Fleur was sitting in the library when her hands and arms began to burn and glow. She rolled her sleeves up to see the every growing, familiar gold light under her skin beating steadily until the burn engulfed her entire body and her ears began to ring. The Veela cried out as she grabbed her head and Luna, who was studying with her, went over to see if she was ok. The Slytherin's teeth were clenched tight as her violet eyes glowed bright before the pain stopped and a trickle of blood flowed out of Fleur's nose.

"Fleur," Luna said with concern heavy in her voice as the Veela removed her hands from her head as the ringing stopped echoing in her head. "You're bleeding!" Fleur brought her hand up slowly and touched the warm blood that was flowing down her lip. When she pulled her hand back, it was shaking and the Veela took a shaky breath before looking towards her Ravenclaw friend.

"I need to find Jade."


End file.
